What If? Naruto
by Uatu
Summary: The day after he discovers that the Kyuubi is sealed inside of him, Naruto decides to make contact with the fox. Seeing that he isn't strong enough, Naruto does the unimaginable to become stronger.
1. The Doctor is In

**What if? Naruto **

**Chapter 1: The Doctor is In.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

It was a peaceful day in Konoha village, the citizens going about their daily schedules, the ANBU keeping guard, and the academy students enjoying their break before they would return to the academy in a month to see which team they would be placed in. All in all, it was a rather normal day for Konoha. It was normal for all, except one citizen of Konoha. This citizen had gravity defying hair, bright blue eyes, three strange whisker marks on each cheek, and answered to the name Naruto. Naruto currently found himself at a place he'd normally never be, the Konoha Village Library. The night before, he had found out that he was the holder of the legendary nine-tailed demon fox, Kyuubi. After waking up and eating a quick breakfast he had rushed over to the library to find all the information he could about the demon. Unfortunately, there wasn't much information. Just the normal stuff taught at the academy, it was big, evil, and could level mountains. With a dejected sigh, Naruto began to leave the library. As he was leaving, he noticed a tall, imposing looking man with two long scars on his face looking at a book. Naruto saw that he had a black Konoha forehead protector bandana on his head. '_Wow, he's strong._' Naruto thought to his self. He could just feel the strength radiating off of this man. Soon the man had put the book back on the shelf and walked away. Naruto went to were the man had been and looked at the row of books he had put the book on. A few of the titles caught his attention, _Torture: Physical or Mental?_, _Mediation: Discover the Inner You_, and _Breaking the Mind_, where the three that grabbed his attention the most. Naruto picked up the book he had seen the man holding, _Torture: Physical or Mental?_. The book was about different ways to torture people both physically and mentally, named the pros and cons of both types of torture, and even how to use the techniques in the book. '_He's got to be really strong to use this. I want to be stronger, so maybe I should try this._' Naruto thought as he tucked the book under his arm. The next book Naruto took of the shelf was, _Mediation: Discover the Inner You_. The book was about how to properly mediate, clearing your mind, and unlocking your mindscape. Naruto was about to put the book back when a thought struck him. If he wanted to know more about the Kyuubi, why not mediate and ask him? With that though in mind, Naruto tucked that book under his arm with the other one. The last book he took of the shelf was, _Breaking the Mind_. This book was about shattering a person's mental state, and how to withstand mental torture. Naruto thought this would be a good addition as well, so he quickly checked out all three books and made his way outside. '_I'm going to lean this and become strong like, Bandana-san. Then, I'll be one step closer to becoming Hokage._' After several minutes of walking and a quick trip to Ichiraku Ramen Bar, to get some ramen of lunch later, Naruto arrived at a clearing in the forest to do some undisturbed reading. He began reading _Mediation: Discovering the Inner You_, because he was eager to speak with Kyuubi. After an hour of reading he had the basis of what the book was talking about down. Naruto then quickly ate an early lunch and then began to mediate. With some work, he was able to clear his mind. He sat on the forest floor for an unknown amount of time before he heard a drop of water splashing into more water. Opening his eyes, Naruto saw that he was no longer in the forest, but in a sewer like hallway. "I'm guessing this is suppose to be my mindscape?" Naruto asked his self. What he hadn't expected was a reply. "**That is correct mortal.**"

Naruto looked around frantically, trying to find where the voice came from. "Who said that?" he asked in a slightly quivering voice.

"**I think you know who, boy. Come."**

The voice replied. Naruto saw that at the far end of the hallway, there was a red glow and he began to make his way through the ankle deep water to it. Soon he walked into the room and saw that it was massive in size. At the other end of the room, were giant bars of like a cage going from the floor to the ceiling. On what looked to be the door of the cage was a slip of paper with the word '_seal_' on it.

"**Come closer.**" The voice said. Naruto carefully stepped forward, when suddenly out of the darkness came large, razor sharp claws aiming at his head. Naruto jumped and scrambled back as fast as he could, as the voice laughed.

"THAT ISN'T FUNNY." He yelled out at the cage.

"**It was to me.**" Came the reply as two very large, slightly glowing, red eyes appeared.

"Kyuubi," Naruto spoke in a hushed whisper.

"**Yes, it is me. Now, what does my jailer want? It doesn't take a demon of my age to know you've come here for something**_**.**_" Kyuubi said. Naruto looked at the eyes and said,

"Yeah, if you're going to be in me, I want your chakra. It's time you start paying rent."

"**No.**" Was the response he got from the demon.

"Hey, if I die, you go with me." Naruto cried out.

"**So? If you die, I go to hell. There, I just have to rip open a portal back to this plane. Death doesn't concern me. You where wanting to use some of my power to help you, weren't you?**" Naruto nodded at the question as Kyuubi continued speaking, "**You aren't strong enough to use my power. However, I could make you stronger. But, there's a price.**"

Naruto looked questioningly at the eyes. "What's the price?" He asked.

"**As far as demons are concerned, you now represent me. With you being weak, it means I'm weak. With you being an idiot, I'm seen as being stupid. So, I'll help you get stronger if you stop being an idiot.**" Kyuubi told him.

Naruto stared, wide eyed. "How am I, an idiot?" He asked the demon.

"**Well, the first and biggest reason for how you're an idiot, is the pursuit of that pink haired-haired menace.**"

"What's wrong with Sakura-chan? She's the greatest." Naruto cried out angrily at Kyuubi's eyes.

"**Does this look great to you mortal?**" On the side o the room, images began to flash. All of them, showing how Sakura treated Naruto. Sadly, none of them, showed her as being the kind of girl Naruto had built her up to be n his mind. His fascination with her began to crumble with each passing image. Soon, even he had no choice, but to admit the fox was right. As he looked back up, into the demon's eyes, he's pursuit of Sakura died. Although, a part of him hoped they could still one day be friends.

"You said that was first. What are the other reasons?" Naruto asked, wanting to know more.

"**The second reason is how you went about getting attention. That's not the kind you want. You want to get attention for being a strong ninja, so no more pranks. Or rather, not as many as before. Third, your clothes scream '**_**Here I am. Kill me**_**,' to the enemy. Ninjas aren't suppose to be seen. Since you have a hard time buying things in the village, use Henge to buy what you need. Finally, you may not have noticed last night, but what ever your Kage Bunshins learn is transferred back to you when they expire. If you summon a group of them and have each of them read a different book, when they expire the knowledge of what each of them read is then transferred to you. Now, only knowledge is transferred. If you summon a group of them and have them each pratice punching a log, when they expire it will feel like you did all of that. You will be able to punch more accurately, but your punches won't be any stronger. So you will have to build up your muscle yourself.**" Through out Kyuubi's talking, Naruto could see the fox's point to each of them. Granted though, he did like orange. "**Now, I agreed to help you get stronger and I will, but you must do something for me.**"

"What would you have me do?" Naruto asked curious as to what the fox could want from him.

"**That night I attacked all those years ago wasn't an accident. Someone was pulling my strings. No one uses me. I want you to find them and kill them. I'll I know is that it involves a man in an orange mask and another, that smells like snakes. I'm sure there are more though.**" Naruto stared slightly wide-eyed at the fox's eyes.

"And how, do I go about finding these men?" He asked.

"**I believe that they will find you. I've had a hunch that their plan all along was for me to be sealed in someone. So, sooner of later they'll come for you. Until then, you need to get stronger. I'm going to teach you a technique to help you. It is Kage Buttai. This technique will make a perfect copy of any object until you dispel it. Use it on the books you have with your clones to learn faster. These are the handseals for it.**" Kyuubi told him as up on the wall images for the handseals appeared. "**Use what you have learned for no to become stronger.**" Kyuubi told him once he had memorized the handseals.

Just before forcing his self out of his mindscape Naruto asked a growing question, "Why are you doing this?"

"**Simple, I don't want to be seen as weak and I want those who tried to use me to pay dearly for trying to use me.**" Was the reply he got from the fox as he left his mind.

As Naruto opened his eyes, he could see that a bit of time had passed while he was in his mind. When he had entered it was just after 12 'o clock. But now, it looked to be around 3 by the sun. '_I guess I should get to work._' Naruto thought to himself as he summoned two clones. To one clone, he gave _Torture: Physical or Mental?_ to read and to the other clone, he gave _Breaking the Mind_ to read. While he, took _Mediation: Discovering the Inner You_ and began to practice making copies of it.

Several hours later, as the sun was setting, Naruto had mastered the Kage Buttai and was able to make a hundred perfect copies of _Mediation: Discovering the Inner_. He then dispelled the books followed by the clones. Naruto jerked slightly as the knowledge of what the clones learned was transferred to him. "Wow. I'm going to need to get a lot more books to do that stuff effectively." He told himself as he headed to Ichiraku Ramen Bar for supper.

* * *

The following day Naruto went out and bought a dictionary. Afterwards, he checked out several more books from the library. He got books on Low level jutsus, manners, how to do it yourself repairs, styling, torture, interrogation, chakra usage, and counterintelligence. He then brought all of the books he had with him to the field he had been at the day before. Naruto used Kage Buttai and made 15 copies of each book. This gave him 180 books. Naruto then summoned 200 clones and had 180 of them start reading. He had 10 practice throwing, 5 practice kicking, and 5 practice punching. While the clones did as they where ordered, Naruto began to work on building his muscles. He then spent the entire day training until the sun was setting. The backlash of the knowledge he was absorbing from his clones caused him to lose his balance for a moment. He did this same routine all week long, with the addition of 40 clones to practice what practice what he had learned. 20 of them would practice jutsus and the other 20 would practice torture and interrogation. Everyday he improved by leaps and bounds, until finally it was time to take his first real step to becoming stronger. He used Henge and bought himself some new clothes to make him look intimidating. Naruto went to his apartment and put his new clothes on. He then left and made his way to the Hokage's office. As he walked down the street, he saw that he was receiving the usual cold looks, but some where giving looks of interests. Everyone gave him a wide berth as he walked down the street.

Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha, was sitting at his desk going over paperwork and wishing that something would come along to give him a break from the paperwork. "Hey old man, we need to talk." Came the voice of Naruto. Sarutobi thanked the gods for Naruto; he'd give him a few hours off from the paperwork. When Sarutobi looked up, he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Standing before him was Naruto in completely different clothing than from what he had last seen the boy wearing. Naruto had black combat boots, slightly baggy black pants, a black leather belt with a steel skull buckle, and a well fitting black shirt. He also had a black trench coat that had silver buckles, a high collar that covered the lower half of his face, and at the base of the coat were orange flames.

Taking in the boy's new look he asked, "What would you like to talk about, Naruto?"

Naruto sat in one of the chairs in front of the Hokage and began to speak. "You know it's my dream to be Hokage right?" At this Sarutobi nodded. "Well, I can't become Hokage if I don't become stronger. Not just physically or mentally, but being able to handle doing certain things. I want to become the first ever Genin interrogation and torture specialist of Konoha."

Upon hearing the boy's request, Sarutobi's pipe fell out of his mouth. "Naruto, I don't think-"

Naruo quickly cut him off. "I know what the job entails. I've been studying and practicing. I wouldn't be asking you for this, if I wasn't sure I could do it."

"I simply can't make you an interrogator, because you ask for it." The Hokage explained.

"Then let me prove it. I can interrogate someone and if I do well, you can let me join. You've got Mizuki, so surely I could interrogate him."

Sarutobi looked at the boy. "You're going to be leading a much harder life, if you choose this."

"It will make me stronger." Naruto replied.

"Well, let's head to the ANBU headquarters. The interrogation head is there. If you do well, you'll be trained be him." Sarutobi said as he stood up from his desk. The two of them walked to the ANBU headquarters and where soon going inside. Once inside, Sarutobi turned to a passing ANBU and ordered him to get the interrogation head. Soon, the ANBU returned, bringing a man with him. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he saw that it was the man form the library. "Naruto meet Ibiki Morino, Head of ANBU Interrogations" Sarutobi said.

Naruto smiled and shook the man's hand. "Hey you're that guy from the library, Bandana-san." Naruto said. At this everyone sweat dropped. It seemed that Naruto hadn't thrown away his disrespect for authority.

Sarutobi took Ibiki to the side and explained what was happening. Ibiki looked at the Hokage surprised. He then looked back at Naruto and then back at the Hokage. After a few more minutes of talking the two men came back over. Ibiki looked at Naruto and spoke gruffly, "Look brat, I don't know what gave you idea that you could do this, but since the Hokage is asking I'll go along with this. If you can get that piece of shit to crack, and it had better be a good show, I'll take you as my apprentice. However, if you fail you'll fuck any chance of ever getting into the ANBU. Also, the entire ANBU will be watching from a closed circuit. Do I make myself understood?"

Naruto nodded his head.

"Alright, then you can conduct the interrogation anyway you see fit. You'll be doing it alone, but we'll be watching. You can do anything you need to do to get him to talk, except killing him." Ibiki explained.

Naruto pulled a small stack of papers from his inner coat pocket and handed them to Ibiki. "Please prepare the room as I have stated and bring the items I have requested. Also, may I have an hour to go over the case files?" He asked.

Ibiki didn't show it, but he was surprised at the boy's request. He looked throw the papers and was impressed with what he saw. He looked back at Naruto for confirmation, who nodded. Ibiki arched his eyebrow, wondering just what the greenhorn Genin was planning, as he walked off.

Meanwhile, word had spread through the ANBU headquarters that a Genin was going to be evaluated by Ibiki to see if he could be an interrogation specialist. Soon bets where flying back and forth on wither or not the kid could do it. After 10 minutes, Ibiki came back and handed Naruto Mizuki's case files. "We're putting the room together as you asked. You better put on one hell of a show brat, I'm wasting a lot of manpower on this. The questions we want answered are inside the folder. Get him to answer 4 of them or the last question and you're in."

"Don't worry Bandana-san, you'll get a great show. You should get some popcorn and a soda for it. Now, if you don't mind, I'll need to get well versed with the details of the case." Naruto said confidently.

The ANBU near by just stared. "Think he'll do it?" One of them, with a bear mask, asked.

"No way, the kid's dreaming." His, hawk masked partner, replied.

"Care to make a make a bet then?" The bear ANBU asked.

"Okay. 10,000 ryu says he fails." The hawk ANUB replied.

With that, the bets were on. Each one, having more money and being crazier than the last one. Sarutobi frowned at the open gambling, but even he placed a bet, on Naruto.

After 45 minutes, 30 minutes of reading the file with 10 clones and 15 minutes of sorting 5 and a half hour's worth of reading, Naruto got up and said to Ibiki, "I'm ready." The man nodded his head escorted him to the chamber. Naruto saw that over 75 ANBU were watching from the closed circuit. "I'll need 10 minutes to set everything up. Bring him in after that." Naruto said, as he was buzzed into the room. Once he was in the room, Naruto summoned his clones and went about fixing the room up. Giving it some last minutes touches. If they wanted a show, he was going to give them one and make them shit themselves. After a few moments, Naruto called over the intercom, "You can bring him in now. Also, I would like to have an ANBU in here to start off the show." Ibiki signaled for two ANBU to get Mizuki, while a purple haired, female, Neko masked ANBU went inside the room. Once inside, she saw that the usual interrogation room had been turned into a cross between a surgery room and a torture room. The where chains hanging from the ceiling, different body parts preserved in jars around the room, including one, with an almost beating heart, there was a creepy looking operating table, a fire roaring furnace, the usual metal table and interrogation chair, and an over all feeling of death and decay in the air. Well, she for one was creped out. Removing the cover from the one way window was Naruto. He had changed outfits. He was now wearing a sadistic looking white scrub uniform and a white lab coat. As he turned to face her, she saw what looked and smelled like blood on the front of his shirt and pants. "Well, what do you think?" He asked her. Neko nodded her head in approval.

Meanwhile, people where looking at the closed circuit television and into the room in both shock and awe. "What is Kami's name is that kid planning?" one of the ANBU asked.

"I don't know, but I like his style. I think I will go get some popcorn." Replied the snake mistress Anko as she got up to get some.

Back in the room, Naruto turned to Neko and said, "Tell me when they're almost here." He then put on a pair of latex gloves and a surgical mask.

"They're a few steps away, Naruto-san." Neko told him, feeling her comrade's chakras.

Naurto nodded and made a quick clone. The clone, then henged into random looking male thug. It got on the operating table and Naruto tied it's limbs to the shackles. About this time, just as Naruto was cutting open the chest, the two ANBU walked in with Mizuki between them. "NO. NO. PLEASE GOD NOOO…." The clone yelled out, seeming to die, as Naruto pealed away the skin. He then took an instrument off of the table next to him and spread the ribs open.

All of this was seen by the ANBU in the next room.

"Damn. That is fucked up." One of the ANBU spoke up at what was happening.

Back in the room, Naruto had had removed the heart and put it in an iced medical cooler. Making sure everyone saw it, but not his face. He then, undid the shackles and picked up the body; carrying it to the furnace. Naruto lowered the furnace wall and threw the body in. He quickly shut the wall, so no one would see the clone dispel. He removed the bloody gloves and mask. He grabbed the cooler and wrote, urgent, on the outside with a black marker. Finally, he turned around to face them for the first time. The three ANBU felt a slight shiver go down their spines, as Mizuki nearly outright pissed himself. Naruto was staring at them with cold, hard eyes. His gaze was so intense, he could have frozen water. Naruto walked over to Neko and handed her the coller with the heart. "See that the he gets this. It will give him something to remember his brother by." Naruto spoke in a cold-hearted voice. Naruto then turned to Mizuki and the guards. "Ah, I see that my 10 o'clock is here. If you please gentlemen," he said gesturing to the table and chair. The ANBU took Muzuki over to the chair and latched him onto the shackles. The three ANBU then left the room.

Muziki stared at him. "What the fuck are you doing here demon?" He asked angrily.

Naruto paid him no mind and went over to a table by the wall and picked up a clipboard.

"Answer me, you piece of shit. What are you doing here?" Muzuki yelled out, nearly foaming.

"I think it would be obvious what I'm doing here, Muziki. You're going to be my guest for a while." Naruto replied coolly.

"Huh?" Was the only intelligible reply he got from the former Leaf nin.

Naruto sighed and said, "Long story short, I'm going to be the first ever Genin interrogation specialist of Konoha and you are my first. I've heard the adults call it a different name, popping the cherry I believe? I overheard some women talking about it at the grocery store. I know, it's used when trying something new. They also said, the first time isn't good. So, we'll have to practice a lot. Won't we?"

Inside the closed circuit room, the ANBU, Ibiki, and the Hokage watched in stunned silence. Suddenly, the ANBU begin to laugh.

"Man that is some fucked up shit." One of them cried out between laughs.

"Damn, that is funny." Another one added.

"This brat is going to be fun to play with." Anko added.

Ibiki had a sadistic grin himself, at the kid's style.

Sarutobi, looked appalled, but had to admit it was effective.

Back in the room, Muziki stared wide-eyed at Naruto. Taking in what the brat had told him. Muziki scoffed in disbelief. "They wouldn't let a failure like you do such things. And, what the hell is up with that outfit?" He asked.

"Oh, you mean this? Well, before I wanted to be Hokage, I wanted to be a doctor. I find the human body so interesting. Sadly, sometimes the body will start to brake down and at that point you need to remove it." Naruto replied as he picked up a jar with a severed head. "As for letting me do this. It's perfect for a failure like me."

"Fuck off brat I'm not buying your at." Muziki screamed back.

"Muziki, you taught me at the academy for 7 years. You know what kind of failure I am, right?" Naruto asked.

Everyone looked confused.

"When I fail, to get something right, I go at it again and again. Until finally, I get it right. Now, I don't expect to get this first one right, so we'll keep doing it over and over until it's done right. The only orders I was given was to make you talk and not kill you, so we could be here for days. There's a lot of things I want to try." Naruto replied as he pulled out a book and opened it. Naruto then continued saying, "I doubt I'll get them right the first time, so doing them over and over is more than likely going to hurt like a bitch. Now, here's the first question. Who where you taking the Forbidden Scroll to?"

"Fuck off, you piece of shit." Muziki screamed back, though not as strong as before.

"Well, Muziki, looks like I have to torture you. I'm going to get myself a cup of coffee while I think on what to give you." Naruto told the man while he undid the man's shackles.

"How the fuck did he get a key to the shackles?" One of the ANBU asked. The first rule of interrogating was to never give the key to the interrogators.

"Well, Ibiki, you said you wanted a show and I think you're about to get it." Remarked the Third, as everyone watched Naruto walk over to the door.

"You're leaving me by myself?" Muziki asked wondering just how stupid the brat was.

"Oh, I would never do that. I'm leaving you in the hands of the nurse." Naruto replied as he stepped out of the door.

"Nurse?" Everyone asked as one.

"Well, this is going to be good." Ibiki said. Everyone turned to stare at him. "That door can only be opened from the outside and no one pressed the button for it." Ibiki told them as he pointed to the button for the door. Everyone looked into the room waiting to see what was going to happen.

Muziki was looking around him wondering who the idiot could have been talking about. Suddenly, the lights went out. Bathing him in a thick darkness.

"Hey what the hells going on?" Anko yelled out. No one could see anything on the monitors or through the window.

"H-hello?" Muziki called out in the darkness with a stutter. Without warning, something smashed into the side of his face and sent him flying.

Everyone jumped in surprise as something smashed into the window. The window was steel reinforced, one way, mirror window. So, whatever hit the window had to have hit it hard to make those crack lines, everyone watched as a piece broke off, very hard indeed. The lights flickered for moment before finally coming on all the way. The ANBU stared in awe at the sight, smashed up against the window was Muziki. His face was bloody from cuts, his nose was broken, and he seemed to be choking. Suddenly, he was flipped over against the window. Everyone heard him gasp at what he saw. Slowly, his body was lowered, giving everyone a view of who was in the room with him. They saw that it wasn't Naruto, but a woman. She was a tall, busty, red headed, woman with ivory white skin. She wore a figure showing black nurse's uniform, thigh high black stockings, and 6 inch high heels. The most noticeable features about this woman was the black eye patch with the medical plus symbol over her left eye, her sharp feral looking teeth, and how her only remaining I was silted and glowing red eye. "Who the fuck, are you?" They heard Muziki ask. For the first time the woman took her eye off of Muziki and looked at the window, looked at them. She then lowered her eye back to Muziki.

"I am Kyuubi, mortal." She replied with a growl. At this, everyone took great notice of the 9 large swishing tails behind her. And Muziki screamed.

* * *

On the other side of Konoha, two look-a-like figures were practicing kicking at some logs. "Gai-sensei, what is that most unyouthful noise?" The smaller one asked the taller one.

"I'm not sure Lee. What ever it is, we should avoid it. It sounds like it would take away out youthfulness." Gai replied to his student.

* * *

Back in the closed circuit room, people where freaking out at what the kid was doing. One of the ANBU had fainted and Anko was laughing like a woman possessed.

Ibiki had shit eating grin on his face. He liked the kid's style.

Sarutobi had an eyebrow arched in surprise. Naruto said he'd give them a show and this was turning out to be one hell of a performance.

"Holy shit, Muziki just pissed himself." One of the ANBU noticed. At this a few people groaned, having lost the bet on if he would piss himself.

Back in the room, Muziki stared at the woman in front of him, terrified. As fast as lightening, she grabbed him by the throat and threw him over her head, slamming him down on the operating table. Before he could register what happened, his limbs where bound to the shackles. He looked at the woman and saw that she had pulled out a book from somewhere. He looked at the cover and took great notice of the cover, _100 Ways to Cook Humans_. At this Muziki began to feel squeamish. "First, make sure meat is properly prepared before you cook it." She said while reading. Muziki felt his blood run cold. "Meat should be tenderized." The woman spoke next and then looked at him. She grabbed the top of his shirt and ripped it off. Looking at his chest she said, "Well you aren't well muscled, so how much tenderizing could you need. Even that Ikari guy is more muscled. But then again, anyone who stares at the snake woman's ass as much as he does better be."

Inside the closed circuit room, a few of the ANBU risked a look at Anko while everyone had the same thought, '_Ikari? The academy teacher?_' Anko herself was giggling in excitement. She was going to have some fun, next time she saw Ikari.

As Anko giggled, the ANBUs closest to her inched away.

Back in the torture room, Kyuubi continued her cooking. "Next, you need to properly season the meat." She began to pour bottles of steak sauce, hot sauce, salt, pepper, steak seasoning, and garlic powder all over the man's body. "Then, add greens to go with your meat." She read aloud. Kyuubi than lifted up a bag and began to remove different vegetables from it. Cutting them up and spreading them up and spreading them around Muziki's body. She finished by stuffing an apple in his mouth. She then turned back to the book and continued to read. "With your meat prepared you can begin to cook." She read aloud from the book. For the bag she took out a packet of matches and lit one. She then turned to face Muziki and gave him a sadistic grin, causing him to whimper. Kyuubi flicked the lit match at him, where it then proceeded to land on his crotch and began to set him ablaze.

All of the men watching, crossed their legs at this. They all stared in shock at what the kid was doing. He really must have wanted Ibiki's approval. A few of the ANBU glanced at the Head of ANBU Interrogations and saw that he had his hand up to his chin and was stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Ibiki himself was impressed. The brat had style, was taking torture to a whole new level, and was being funny about it. If he could get that sack of shit to confess who he was stealing the scroll for, the boy was in.

Anko was busy planning on how to get Ikari out on a date. Luckily, she always did her best thinking when someone was screaming. She'd have to thank the kid later.

Back in the room, Kyuubi saw that the weakling was screaming something over and over again. She lifted up a bucket of salt water and poured it over his burning crotch. Once the fire was out, she yanked the apple out of his mouth and leaned closer. "Yes?" She asked him.

"I'll…talk. I was…stealing…it for…Orochimaru-sama." Muziki sobbed out in pain.

With a poof, the woman disappeared and in her place was Naruto. "Now was that so hard, Muziki?" He asked the burnt man. Naruto leaned in close and grabbed Muziki by his hair, forcing the man to look at him. "Now, if I found out you're lying to me, I'll send you to the real Kyuubi and you do not want to meet her." He said in a cold voice.

The ANBU in the closed circuit room were staring at the kid. "He actually did it." One of them said. A moment later several people groaned at the money they had lost and the things they would have to do. Yes, it was going to be an odd day tomorrow when some of the ANBU go out patrolling tomorrow in pink tutus.

Sarutobi, looked at Naruto with pride in his eyes. It may not be an easy path, but Naruto could handle it.

Back in the room Muziki was confessing to everything. How he planned to gain entrance to Orochimaru's village, killing a former teammate, and dozens of other things. Including, stealing panties at the local washeteria.

Ibiki nodded his head in approval as Naruto walked out of the room slightly shaken.

Naruto was taken aback by the cheering and whistling for the audience of ANBU. Naruto proceed to look at the for a moment, before puking. As two ANBU carried an unconscious Muziki out, Ibiki stepped up to him and said, "Not bad brat, you passed. The first time is always the worst. I'm going to train you just like I said I would. When you aren't with your team, doing missions, training, eating, or sleeping you'll be learning from me. You are now the first ever ANBU apprentice straight out of the academy. Welcome to the ANBU, kid." Ibiki grinned at the end.

The ANBU watching clapped as Naruto raised his head and replied. "Thanks." He said, to the taller man.

Sarutobi, then stepped forward and asked, "Naruto, where did you learn to do this?"

"Oh, well nearly a week ago I saw Ibiki-san at the library and thought he looked strong. I wanted to get stronger, so I looked at some of the books he was looking at and practiced with them. I picked up the books, _Torture: Physical or Mental?_, _Mediation: Discover the Inner You_, and _Breaking the Mind_. Afterwards, I went out to a field and began to mediate, as I wanted to meet Kyuubi after learning that she's sealed inside of me. Once I met Kyuubi, she told me I was to weak and stupid. So a challenge was brought forth. The stronger I get, the more power she'll let me use. She taught me how my clones transfer the knowledge they leaned back to me and how to make perfect copies of objects. The following day I got some more books and made copies of them and clones to read them." Naruto explained to the Hokage.

Ibiki arched an eyebrow in surprise. He knew the book the kid was talking about and it was a high level book. No need to tell him though, he did want the kid to get a big head over it. Nodding his head at Naruto's explanation, he looked at Naruto and asked, "What did you mean, when you said you'd send Muiziki to meet the real Kyuubi?"

"Just that," replied Naruto. "Kyuubi has been teaching me a lost jutsu. The jutsu takes the soul of another and puts it into the casters body. The person the gains the life force and knowledge of that person. Normally, there would be a fight for dominance. However, due to the seal, they would be stuck with Kyuubi asa roommate, while I got their knowledge. I would also have their life force, unless Kyuubi got bored and ate them." Naruto explained to him. Upon hearing this, most of the ANBU stepped back, as none of them wanted to meet Kyuubi.

"What did the demon say, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked slightly shaken at what Naruto had said.

"Kyuubi, wants me to find and kill those who forced her to be sealed. She said one of them smelled like snakes and the other and an orange mask." Naruto told him.

The Hokage nodded his head thinking about what Naruto had said.

"Well, go hme and get some rest kid. I'll see you day after tomorrow." Ibiki said walking up to Naruto, right before he puked again.

"Oh gods, do I feel sick." Naruto mumbled out.

"Don't worry about it brat. It means that you're human. I want you to come in tomorrow to get your ANBU tattoo, signifying that you are an ANBU apprentice. Get here early and Anko will get it taken care of." Ibiki said as Naruto nodded and walked out, heading back to his apartment to rest. Even though, it was only noon.

Once Naruto was gone, Sarutobi turned to Ibiki and asked, "What is your opinion, of he boy?"

"He has great potential. Maybe one day, he could become Hokage. However, we need to act quickly. If the council gets wind of this, they may try to stop him from being my apprentice." Ibiki replied to the weathered leader.

"Don't worry. By nightfall, Naruto will be your apprentice and the council won't be able to do anything about it. Take care of him, Ibiki. He is like a grandson to me." The Third replied as he left.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the recesses of a dark swear, two glowing red eyes opened. '_**So, the brat is getting strong. This is going to be fun to watch.**_' The 9-tailed fox demon, Kyuubi thought to herself, with an amused laugh. Mortals were such fun and tasty too.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto made his way to the ANBU headquarters. Once inside, he was surprised at how people greeted him. Several of the ANBU's had their masks off and smiled at him. A few even waved. As he watched the people go about, Anko came over to him with a sleepy look in her eyes. "What happened to you?" Naruto asked her.

"Oh, shut up. I had a late night, last night." Anko replied. "Now listen here, worm. You are an ANBU apprentice. When doing ANBU work you outrank Chunin and are on the same level as a Tokubetsu Jounin. Until your training is over. You're training will be done in a year or when you make the rank of Chunin. Once your training is over you will join as a main interrogator. We can't have your identity known, just yet. So, for a while, you will be wearing a mask. Afterwards, you'll be known to the world. You'll have a room here at HQ for when ever you need it. After six months, you'll be allowed access to the ANBU library. You now have access to the training grounds. Understand?" She looked to see him nod.

"Why are they all staring at me?" Naruto asked. Commenting on all of the stares he was getting.

"You're now the youngest student of Ibiki. The most feared interrogator in the Five Great Nations." Anko replied, as they entered the records room. There a member came in and took a picture of him, creating his record. He was then given a standard ANBU weapons kit, a key to his room, and access codes to the training grounds.

Next, he was brought to the ANBU tattoo artist and given his ANBU apprentice tattoo on his right shoulder. As he let the pain subside, Ibiki came in. "Come with me," the older man told him.

Naruto followed his teacher to his office. Once there, Ibiki sat behind his desk and Naruto in front of him. "You're talented kid, but I'm going to refine your techniques. We, as interrogators, are prime targets. And you become a bigger one being my apprentice, who you are, and what you want to do. However, you shouldn't slack off on your training. Now, we can't have you getting too strong just yet. But, we'll help level you off with the other Genin an give you some pointers. You will need to learn the human anatomy, psychology, medicine, and poisons. You'll be with me to watch and learn how a real interrogation works. Once your training is almost done, I'll let you try some. The best way is like you told Muiziki, through failure after failure." Ibiki told him.

Naruto took what his sensei told him to heart.

"Now, for the matter of your identity, we've come up with this." Ibiki said as he reached into his desk and pulled out a featureless black mask. The only noticeable mark on the mask was an orange colored rip going from the top left of the mask, between where the eyes would be, and ending at the right cheek. "You are to wear this when you are here. When you put this on you are no longer Naruto Uzumaki, but The Doctor." Ibiki told him, as he tossed the mask to him. Naruto stared at the mask in his hands, he had to admit, he liked the orange rip. "The mask will automatically stay on your face." Ibiki told him when he saw Naruto was looking to see how to put the mask on. "Now don't let all of this get to you, because you're training with Anko this morning." Ibiki told his student with a pleasant grin. Naruto, stared at his sensei for a moment before he fainted.

**The Weeks Later**

Over the last three weeks Naruto improved in leaps and bounds. Thanks to the training from Ibiki, Anko, Inoichi Yamanaka and tips form other ANBU members, Naruto had a better understanding of what he had missed in the academy; Even, history. Although, he still didn't like it. Soon enough the three weeks where over and it was time to go to the academy and find out which Genin team he would be on. '_Well, here goes nothing._' Naruto thought to his self as he stepped out of his apartment and headed towards the academy.

Very soon, things were going to change.

**Next chapter: Meeting the Team**

**I hope you enjoyed reading the story. I've been reading several Naruto/Temari fan fictions for a while now and decided to try my hand at one. This story shows what life would be like for Naruto, if after he found out he was the Jinchuriki for the Kyuubi, he made contact with the fox demon. Kyuubi in this story is female. She isn't overly evil, a misjudged good girl, or have the hots for Naruto. She has an agenda and Naruto is just a tool to help her accomplish it. Also, he isn't afraid to die, but want to make her captures suffer. Naruto isn't going to be overly strong at first and no where near god-like. He'll be slightly battle smarter and a little bit stronger. Please don't send me reviews saying that my spelling and grammar is wrong, without telling me what is wrong. If you tell me what is wrong, I'll do my best to fix it. Well, the story is rated M, as it will have some more adult situations later in the story. I hope you will all vote in my poll for Naruto's base weapon. Also, the more you vote; the faster I'll update.**


	2. Meeting the Team

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 2: Meeting the Team**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

**It was noisy in the old academy classroom as Naruto walked in. For 2 years he had been attending classes in this room and during that time noting really changed. The paint on the walls was boring, no one really listened in history, and all the girls swooned over Sasuke. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to himself, just yet, Naruto grabbed a seat in the back. Just as he was getting comfortable, the ground began to shake. '_Well, at least I know who is coming._' Naruto thought, as the door busted wide open by two girls trying to get into the classroom before the other. One girl had long pink hair, was wearing a red outfit, and was named Sakura Haruno. The other girl had long platinum blond hair, was wearing a purple outfit, and was named Ino Yamanaka. After a moment of struggling, both of the girls fell forward onto the floor.

"I won Ino-pig. Admit it." Sakura said as she stood up in triumph.

"I don't think so, billboard brow. I was here first." Ino shot back as she glared at Sakura.

The two girls began arguing over who arrived first, until they saw that a free seat was open next to their crush Sasuke Uchiha. Unfortunately, every girl in the class took notice of this and all of them began arguing over who should get the seat. In the end, Sakura claimed the seat much to the disappointment of the other girls.

When the chair next to him began to make noise from someone moving it. Naruto, looked up to see Shikamaru Nara sitting sitting down next to him. "I'm surprised to see you here Naruto. You do know this is only for those who passed, right?" Shikamaru asked in his slow drawl.

Naruto smirked at him and replied, "I thought you where a genius, Shikamaru. Are where you just to lazy to see that I've got a forehead protector on."

"So, you do. Glad to see you passed. What's with the new clothes though?" Shikamaru asked taking note that Naruto was no longer wearing his trademarked orange jumpsuit. Instead, he was wearing black pants with an orange stripe going down each side and a black shirt with the village symbol in orange on both of the sleeves.

"I decided that since I was a Genin, I should grow-up some. As you can see though, I still like orange." Naruto replied.

Iruka soon walked into the classroom and tried to get the students to calm down. However, everyone was to excited to notice him are pay attention. Using his _bighead no jutsu_ Ikari yelled at the class screaming, "SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU BRATS." This caused everyone to instantly stop talking and face forward in their seats. Seeing that the class was now paying attention, Iruka began calling out the squads.

While Iruka was naming the teams, Naruto leaned over to Shikamaru and whispered, "Hey do you and Chouji want to join me for some ramen at Ichiraku's for lunch? My treat."

This caused Shikamaru to mentally arch an eyebrow in surprise, as Naruto never treated anyone to ramen. '_Ah, free food is free food. Besides, it's to troublesome to debate it._' Shikamaru thought to himself before replying, "Sure. I'll tell Chouji after w break for lunch."

Iruka had just finished naming the members of Team 6 and was now calling a new team. "The members of Team 7 are Haruno, Sakura; Uchiha, Sasuke; and Uzumaki, Naruto."

Naruto raised his eyebrows slightly. '_Well, I wasn't expecting that._' He thought to himself.

'_They better not slow me down._' Sasuke thought as he continued to stare out the window.

Sakura, however, was reacting much different to the news than the boys where. "WHAT? I'm stuck with the dead last?" She cried out in despair.

Naruto just rolled his eyes at her overdramatizing of the situation. After all, he wasn't overly happy to be on a team with a fan-girl. Iruka soon finished calling out the teams an dismissed them for lunch, telling them to be back at noon to meet their sensei. After grabbing Chouji, the three friends began to make their way to Ichiraku Ramen Bar. In the courtyard of the academy, was a group of girls talking amongst themselves. One of the girls glanced over to see the guys walking towards them, talking with each other. "Hey, isn't that Naruto?" She asked aloud catching the attention of the other girls. They all looked in the direction she was pointing to see that it was the hyper ninja himself.

"Oh great, he'll probably rush over here and start gushing about how excited he is to be on the same team as me and ask if I'll join him for lunch." Groaned Sakura, as they watched the guys get closer. The girls waited to see what would happen as they got closer. Soon the guys where level with them and still nothing had happened. Then, they where passed the group of girls and not even a glance in their direction. Finally, the guys where passed the academy gates and on down the street.

"Wow. You just got burned billboard brow and by Naruto of all people." Chirped Ino in glee.

"Oh, shut up, Ino-pig." Sakura replied angrily.

* * *

An hour later, Naruto was walking back into the classroom to meet his sensei. Soon jounins began arriving to pick up the newly formed squads. 30 minutes later, the only ones left were Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. After another hour and a half of waiting, Naruto got fed up and went to the chalk board. Grabbing the most chalk filled eraser he could find, Naruto took it over to the door and wedged it between the door and the door frame. "Naruto, what do you think you're doing?" Sakura asked.

"It's what our sensei gets for being so late." Naruto replied as he made his way back to his seat.

A few moments later, the door opened and the sound of an eraser was heard hitting a head. The three Genins looked over at the door to see a silver haired man with his forehead protector over his left eye, and a face mask covering the lower half of his face. "Team 7?" He asked them. The three genins nodded. "I'm Kakashi Hatake your sensei. Now, how can I put this…? My first impression is… I don't like you guys." He said. This caused to three to feel slightly depressed. "Now, lets go to the roof." He continued and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The three teammates looked at each other and then got up, making their way to the roof.

Once there, they saw that their sensei was already waiting for them, "Let's start with some introductions." Kakashi said as the genins sat down on the steps.

"What would you like to know?" Asked Sakura.

"Things like your name, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbies. That sort of stuff." Kakashi replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why don't you go first sensei? We don't know anything about you." Said Sakura.

"Okay. Well, my name is Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys my likes or dislikes. I keep my dreams to myself and I have a lot of hobbies." He told them.

'_We didn't learn anything other than his name._' The genins of Team 7 thought as one.

"Start us off pinky." Kakashi said looking at Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. The thing I like is… Well, the person I like is… Should I say dream for the future…?" Sakura said while blushing and glancing at Sasuke.

'_Great. A fan-girl._' Kakashi thought.

"The thing I dislike is Naruto." Sakura continued in a deadpanned voice, before blushing again and saying, "My hobbies are…" Once again looking at Sasuke.

"You're up next emo kid." Kakashi said looking at Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are tons of things I dislike and little I like. I don't have a dream, but rather an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man." Sasuke said.

'_I thought so._' Kakashi thought to himself.

"And now we move on to you blondie." Kakashi said looking at the last member of Team 7, Naruto.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like plenty of things and dislike a few things. My dream is to be the strongest Hokage. My hobby is training." Naruto informed with a smile.

'_Interesting…_' Kakashi thought on the final member.

"Well, we start our duties tomorrow. First, we're going to do something with just the four of us." Kakashi informed them.

"What will we be doing, sensei?" Asked Sakura.

"Survival Training."

"Why is our duty training?" Asked Sasuke.

"I thought we did enough training at the academy." Said Sakura.

"I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training." Kakashi said mysteriously.

"Then, what is it?" Naruto asked, arching his eyebrows in confussion. At this Kakahi began to laugh slightly.

"What's so funny, Sensei?" Sakura asked slightly annoyed.

"Well, it's just that when I tell you this you guys are going to flip." Kakashi said with a light chuckle, before become serious. "Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen as Genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!!" All three of them stared at him in shock. "See, I told you you'd flip out." Kakashi said with a chuckle once again.

"Then what was the point of graduating?" Asked Naruto.

"Oh, that? That's to see who has the chance of being chosen to be a genin." Kakashi told him.

"Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all of your shinobi tools. Also, skip breakfast, you'll throw up." Kakashi told the team.

'_I can't fail here. What would Ibiki and everyone else say?_' Naruto thought to himself.

"The details are in this printout. We'll be meeting at 8 in the morning. Don't be late." Kakashi said, handing them each a piece of paper. Then, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"I guess we're getting the bell test tomorrow, then." Naruto said with a sigh as he stood up.

"What are you talking about, dobe?" Sasuke asked as he crumbled the piece of paper into a ball.

"I over heard a couple of jounins talking about that guy. He's the legendary Kakashi, Master of 1,000 Jutsus. He's also legendary because he's never passed a genin team. He uses the same test that was used by the Fourth, Jiraiya, the Third, and the Second. He'll show the genin two bells and tell them that they need to catch them in order to pass. Someone will then ask, why are there only two bells then. He'll then tell them, that the one that doesn't catch a bell will be sent back to the academy. That statement causes the genins to start fighting against each other to not be sent back. However, if you where to look at the records, you'd see that there has never been a 2 man genin squad. It's always 3. The test isn't to actually the bells but to work as a team. Working as a team is what will help us pass. Also, he's known for being chronically late. At least up to 2 hours. So, I'll be at the field tomorrow at 9:45." Naruto explained to his teammates.

'_I wonder how right he is? It wouldn't hurt to have a look at the records._' Sasuke thought to himself as Naruto left.

'_I don't believe they'd make someone that shows up that late so often a jounin._' Sakura thought skeptically. Seeing that Naruto was gone, Sakura turned to Sasuke and asked, "Sasuke, want to go get something to eat?"

"No." Sasuke replied, leaving for the Konoha Shinobi Records office.

* * *

Naruto headed out to his training field to get some training done, before the exam tomorrow. However, when he arrived, he saw that his field was already occupied by two people. Two people in green spandex with fuzzy eyebrows. '_Who the heck are these guys?_' Naruto thought as he watched them train. He did have to admit their taijutsu was impressive. '_Isn't that…_' Naruto thought as he walked closer to the two training by the logs. "Excuse me, but are you Maito Gai?" Naruto asked.

The taller of the green spandex wearing duo turned to look at him and said, "Yes, I am he. Has the passion of youth led another student to me?"

Naruto did his best not to run away. "I heard some jounins talking about how you and Kakashi are rivals. They where debating over who was the best, but they all agreed that Kakashi won't teach anyone. So, I was hoping that you could teach me taijutsu." Naruto asked, praying that Inoichi was telling him the truth about Gai's need to always outdo Kakashi.

"What, what, what? I'll have you know that I am the ultimate taijutsu master, Konoha's Green Beast. Kakashi could never teach you taijutsu like I could." Gai replied passionately, though slightly angry that someone though Kakashi was a better fighter. Obviously, he'd need to find his eternal rival and challenge him.

"So, does this mean you'll train me?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Of course. You shall join me and my apprentice Lee in our training every morning. Together our youthfulness with shine although out Konoha." Gai replied, giving the good-guy pose.

"Thank you very much." Said Naruto while, bowing gratefully.

"Now, I want you to kick this log 100 times with each arm. After that, I want you to kick it 100 times with each leg. And finally, I want you to run around this clearing 100 times." Gai said, patting the long next to him.

'_I'm going to kill Inoichi next time I see him._' Naruto thought as he started to punch the log.

After a few hours of punching, kicking, and running, the training was over. "Very good, Naruto-kun. From now on, I want you to join us for our morning training. Were I will train you and Lee in the art of Taijutsu." Gai told him, just before he left. Naruto then henged into different looking person and grabbed an early supper. He then went back to his apartment and fell asleep, just as the sun was setting.

* * *

The next morning Naruto woke up early and sent a kage bunshin to study under Ibiki; while he, went to meet up with Gai and Lee. After three hours of doing the same thing as the day before, Naruto hurried off to training ground 7 to take Kakashi's test. When he arrived, he saw that Sakura looked like she was going to kill someone; and Sasuke was close behind her in that regard. "Let me guess, you both showed up at 8?" he asked them. The two of them gave a sigh, thus giving him his answer.

A few moments later, Kakashi arrived on the field looking slightly tired. "Morning, guys." He greeted them in a chipper mood.

"You're late!!" Sakura and Naruto yelled out, while Sasuke scowled at him.

"Sorry about that." Kakashi said shrugging his shoulders.

Kakashi then pulled out an alarm clock and placed it on a nearby stump. It's set to go off at noon. You have until then to get these bells from me," Kakashi said pulling out two silver bells.

Sasuke and Sakura arched their eyebrows at this, remembering what Naruto had said the day before.

"But sensei, there are only two bells." Noted Sakura.

"Yes. The one that doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy. You can use what ever means of fighting you have to get them. You won't win unless you come at me with the intent to kill." Kakashi explained.

Naruto grabbed a kunai from his holster and arched his arm back preparing to throw it. Before he could even start to bring his arm forward, it was stopped and the tip of the kunai was pressing against his neck.

"Calm down. I haven't even said start yet." Kakashi said from behind him.

The others looked at him with great surprise on their faces.

'_I didn't even see him move._' Thought Sakura.

'_So, this is a Jounin?_' Thought Sasuke with a mental grin.

"Well, you seem prepared enough to come at me with the intent to kill. Are you acknowledging me? I'm starting to like you guys." Kakashi said with a slight laugh. Looking at the three genins he continued, "Well, lets start this thing…START!!" With the command given the three of them were off as fast as they could run.

'_I guess Naruto is right. We need to work together to pass._' Thought Sakura as she, hid in the bushes.

'_I don't want to do it, but I've got no choice, if I want to pass. I have to work with them._' Sasuke thought as he, began to make his way to Sakura.

A few moment later all three of them where hiding under the bushes, deciding what they should do. '_Interesting, they're working together. There might be hope for this group._' Thought Kakashi as he, sensed their chakras. Suddenly, a plume of smoke arose from the ground. Once the smoke vanished, he saw Naruto standing before him.

"Come and fight me." Naruto yelled out.

"Um…, you're a bit off." Kakashi told him.

The real Naruto was actually still under the bushes with Sasuke and Sakura. "I hope the plan of your's works, dobe." Sasuke whispered.

"Don't worry, it will. I just send a clone out to fight him and we learn how he fights." Naruto replied logically.

"The only thing a bit off is your hair cut." The Naruto clone yelled out as he charged Kakashi.

"Fighting lesson, Taijutsu. I'll teach you about it." Kakashi said as he reached into his weapons pouch, causing the clone to stop and the genins to tense.

'_Why is he going for a weapon then?_' Questioned, Sakura to herself.

The three genins looked on to see that Kakashi had pulled out a book. The genins sweat dropped and the clone looked surprised.

"What's wrong? Go ahead and attack me?" Kakashi said to the clone.

"But.. Why do you have a book?" The Naruto clone asked in confusion.

"Why? Because I want to read what happens next. Don't worry about it. It won't make any difference with you guys." Kakashi replied as he began to read, not even bothering to look at the clone.

This pissed the clone off and with a battle cry the clone charged once again. We he got close enough he through out his fist, only to have it blocked by Kakashi's hand. The clone then aimed a kick to his head. Kakashi ducked down, not even missing a beat. The clone shot himself forward trying to hit him, but Kakashi had disappeared. "A Shinobi isn't suppose to get caught from behind, idiot."Came the voice of Kakashi from behind him.

Sakura took notice of the seal and leaned over to Naruto and whispered, "Naruto, he's about you use a ninjutsu. When he does, that will be the end of your clone."

"Then I'll do a quick replacement and the two of you come charging out. Sakura, you hit him low and Sasuke you hit him high." Naruto said.

"Huh?" The clone said, before being replaced.

"Too late." Said Kakashi with a glint in his eye as he rammed his fingers forward while yelling out, "Konoha Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique, 1,000 years of pain." He then poked Naruto in the ass and sent him flying.

'_That wasn't a technique. Just a really powerful ass poke._' Sakura thought to herself, wondering just how crazy was their sensei.

'_Crap that hurt.'_ Naruto yelled out in his mind as he landed in the lake.

Sakura and Sasuke then got up from their hiding place and began to charge Kakashi, while he had his back turned. Sakura threw three kunai at his stomach, while Sasuke threw two to his head. Kakashi grabbed the nearest kunai out of the air and with it, deflected all the rest. Sasuke and Sakura kept running towards him hoping Naruto knew what to do.

Just as he was about to dodge them, Kakashi felt a present behind him. Suddenly, both of his arms where pulled behind him and he heard Naruto say, "Weren't Shinobi not suppose to get caught form behind, Sensei?"

Seeing that Kakashi's arms were trapped, Sakura and Sasuke shot their hands forward and grabbed a bell, yanking them off. Kakashi broke one of his arms free and swung Naruto around, throwing him into Sasuke and Sakura. The three genins crashed to the ground. Kakashi then walked over to them and stared down at them. "Do the three of you understand the answer to this test?" He asked in a slightly rough tone.

"It's teamwork. The test is to see if we can put aside our own interests and work together for the sake of the mission." Naruto said.

"Yup. For that you guys pass." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

As the three of them stood up, Kakashi looked eachof them in the eye and said, "Remember, a ninja that brakes the rules is trash. But, I ninja that would abandon his comrades is lower than trash."

"We will Sensei." The newly passed genin of Team 7 answered.

Well, we'll start training and missions tomorrow, team. Be here at 8." Kakashi said to them before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Seeing that they had passed, Naruto turned to his two teammates and said, "Hey you guys want to get something to eat to celebrate?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Sasuke replied saying, "Sure." Sakura nodded her head and followed along.

**A Month and a Half Later**

Over the next month an a half, Naruto trained and did missions constantly. Thanks to Naruto's clones, the members of Team 7 were able to do double the amount of missions of a regular genin team. Thus giving them a high ranking for completed missions and more money. His training with Gai had been going along nicely, as well. Seeing that his strength was improving, Gai had started to teach him fox style taijutsu. However, after a few spars with Lee, Naruto saw that he had a long way to go. The two apprentices of Gai had developed a strong bond of friendship together. His training with Ibiki had improved as well; Naruto was now learning how to mix poisons together and was rumored to be hard ass among the ANBU. The genins of Team 7 had also gotten closer. They had started a tradition of have ramen together every Friday night.

Currently, the three genins where in the forest on another mission.

"I'm in range of the target." Sasuke said into the com.

"Me too." "So am I." Came the voices of Sakura and Naruto.

"Okay, proceed." Kakashi ordered the genins.

The three of them sprang out from behind the trees and dived at the target.

"I got him." Naruto cried out as he grabbed a hold of a tail. Only to be met, with claws to the face.

'_Oh, Kami. That hurts like hell._' Naruto thought as the cat tried to claw Naruto's eyes out.

"Are you sure it's the right target. There should be a red ribbion on the let ear." Kakashi asked.

Sasuke looked at the cat that was trying to kill his teammate and replied back into the com, "Yes, we're sure."

"Then mission complete. Let's return." Kakashi told him ordering them back.

"OH, you found my precious Tora. I don't know what I would do without him." Cried the Fire Daimyo's wife, as she squeezed the cat close to her. Much to the cat's great discomfort.

The members of Team 7 looked on in sympathy. Well, all but one member did. '_Yes, squeeze harder. HARDER._' Naruto thought to himself, giving an insane laugh inside. Though, no one could see it, Kyuubi sweat dropped, wondering just how much of her influenced her jailer.

"Team 7, your next mission is… Babysitting and elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village, and helping with the potato harvest." Said the Hokage at the mission counter.

"Old man, can't you find us a better mission?" Asked Naruto in a slightly winey voice.

'_Kami, I hope so._' Thought Sasuke as he, looked on.

'_Geez… How annoying…_' Thought Sakura with a tic on her, forehead.

'_I had a feeling this was coming._' Though Kakashi as he, looked up from his book.

"You idiot!! You're just a rookie. Everyone starts with the simple duties and works their way up." Iruka yelled at him.

"We've been doing the simple duties. We can now request a higher mission." Naruto shot back.

"Naruto, what are you talking about?" Asked Sakura with a raised eyebrow, wondering what her teammate was talking about.

"According to the guidelines, a genin team may not receive a mission ranking higher than D, until said team has completed 35 D-ranked missions." Naruto told her. He then turned to face the Hokage. "How many missions does our file say we've completed?"

Picking up Team 7's file, the Hokage saw that they had indeed completed enough missions to request a C-rank mission. "According to the stats in the file, Team 7 has completed 105 D-ranked missions." The Hokage told the team.

Naruto looked at his teammates. "Well? Are you guys in?" He asked them.

"Sure." Replied Sasuke, eager for a harder mission.

"Alright, let's do it." Sakura told him.

The three genins looked at their sensei. "You're either with us or against us, Sensei." Stated Naruto.

With a sigh, Kakashi put away his book and said, "I guess I'm up for it."

Taking a puff from his pipe and then looking at the members of Team 7, the Hokage said, "If you want it so much, I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's bodyguard escort duty for a certain individual."

"Oh, who is it?" Asked Naruto, starting to get excited.

"Relax, I'm about to introduce him." Sarutobi said. The Third then turned to a door off to the side and call out, "Hey, will you come here?"

"What's this? They're all a bunch of super brats. Especially, the midget with the super stupid-looking face. Are they really, ninja?" Came the voice of a scruff older man from the door.

"Who's the midget with the stupid face?" Asked Naruto; only to have Sakura and Sasuke step closer, making it painfully obvious that he was the shortest member on the team. Seeing this, Naruto simmered in anger. He then turned to Kakashi an asked, "Can I kill him?"

"Naruto, you can't kill the person that we've been hired to protect." Answered Kakashi.

"Yeah, but what about after?" Naruto countered.

"Sure, knock yourself out."

Looking at the runt wanting to kill him, the man said, "I'm the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you to provide me with super protection until I get back to my own country and complete the bridge."

Kakashi turned to his genins and said, "Start packing. We leave first thing tomorrow morning."

With that, the three genins headed off in different directions to start packing for the long mission ahead. Sakura went to tell her mom and to rub the mission rank in Ino's face. Sasuke, went to start packing and pay his respects at the cemetery. Kakashi, headed for the Memorial Stone. Naruto, went to inform Ibiki, Gai, Lee, and Teuchi that he would be leaving for a long-term mission. Ibiki told him to keep reviewing what he had taught him. Gai said that once he returned, the flames of youth would guide him to the perfect weapon to go with his style. Lee told Naruto to keep getting stronger and that he looked forward to their next spar. Teuchi cried upon hearing that his best customer would be gone.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stood at the North Gate waiting for Kakashi and the client to arrive. The three looked down the street to see that Kakashi was walking towards them with Tazuna.

Seeing the shocked faces of his students, Kakashi asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"You're on time." Mumbled out Sakura.

'_Crap._' Kakashi thought to himself before saying, "Yes, I wanted to test you. I can't have you getting used to things."

Turning to face the jounin, Tazuna asked, "Am I really safe with these brats?"

"Well, I am a jounin, so no need to worry sir."

Having heard enough from their client, Naruto spoke in a hard voice saying, "Hey old man, don't mess with shinobi. We're incredible. One day, I'll take the elite title of Hokage. My name is Uzumaki, Naruto. Remember that name."

"Hokage, is this village's number one ninja, right? I doubt someone like you could do it…" Said Tazuna before taking a sip from his bottle.

"Hey, I'm prepared to do anything to become Hokage. Once I do, you will acknowledge me." Naruto yelled at the older man.

Looking the blonde idiot in the eye, Tazuna said, No I won't, brat. Even if you become Hokage, you still won't be able to force me or anyone else that doesn't want to, to acknowledge you."

Though he didn't say anything, what the old drunk said had deeply affected Naruto.

* * *

**Next chapter: Mission to Wave**

**Well, there was chapter two folks. I hope you all liked it. Please send me a review. I would like to take a moment here to say that a few of my reviews thought that I had gained inspiration form another Naruto story titled '**_**The Interrogator**_**' to write this story. I want to tell you that I didn't get inspiration from that story, because I had never heard of it. Thanks to a reviewer by the username of, Hinarued, I found out the title of this story and read it. I was surprised at the similarities my first chapter had to it and I want to assure you all that the similarities end there. What I have planed for this story differs greatly from that story. I was however inspired by Agent-G's story '**_**Political Alliances**_**'. His stuff is just great. I recommend reading it.**

**Though, there is something I must admit. My fellow fanfic readers, ****I have not been entirely truthful with you. I did gagoogity that woman. I gashmoigitied her giflavity with my googis. And I am sorry. Please forgive me.**

**Now, on to better things. As a treat for everyone's kind response to my story, I've decided to give you all a treat and tell you some things about the next chapter. First, two very special guests will be stopping by. Second, it's the entire mission. Third, you'll get your first look at someone. And Finally, The Doctor will be making a house call. Here's a preview:**

'_**Oh shit.' Naruto thought as he realized that there had been no rain.**_

_**Zabuza turned his head to Kakashi and Naruto, staring up at them form his position on the ground. "Here kid. Take my sword and with it, try to change the path of Shinobis." He rasped out.**_

_**The wind blew around the barren desert.**_

**I hope all of you like that preview. Also, it was the Specialized Gauntlets that won the poll voting. They'll be coming around in chapter 4. Now, not to bum everyone out but the next chapter won't be coming out for a couple of weeks, since I'm helping some friends move. I'll update it real soon after that. Be sure to vote in the new poll and send me a review.**


	3. Mission to Wave

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 3: Mission to Wave**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

(**AN: a lot of this chapter is the same as in the manga, so if you want to get to the different part, just scroll on down to my second AN note.**)

* * *

After a few hours of walking, Sakura decide to ask a question. "Tazuna-san, you're from the Wave country, right?"

"What about it?" Asked the old bridge builder.

Sakura turned her head to her sensei and said, "Kakashi-sensei, do they have ninjas in that country?"

"No, not in the Wave country. But… In other countries the culture and customs may be different, but hidden villages exist, and so do ninjas." Kakashi explained to his student.

As they walked, Kakashi explained to his students the different countries and the leaders that governed over the ninjas there. Mostly, talking about the five great nations. While their sensei talked, Naruto took in the sights. Having never been outside the village before, he was hoping to see stuff he'd never get to see in the village. Unfortunately, it was still all the same boring stuff. Same sky, same trees, same dusty road, and same puddle of water in the road. Naruto, walked passed the puddle mutter to himself about how nothing looked different. A moment later he looked back up into the sky and realized something. '_Oh, shit._' Thought Naruto, as he realized that there had been no rain. Therefore, there should have been no puddle in the road. At that moment, he head the sound of a chain wrapping around Kakashi.

"One down." The attackers said ominously before yanking on the shuriken chain and ripping Kakashi's body to pieces.

"Sensei." Naruto yelled out with Sakura and Sasuke, before hearing, "Two down." Realizing that he was caught, Naruto did a quick substitution jutsu. As they ripped apart the log that Naruto had used, Sasuke leapt into the air and threw a shuriken at the chain. The shuriken hit the chain and was embedded into a tree, surprising the attackers. Before they could yank their chain free, Sasuke threw a kunai into the hole of the shuriken making it stay connected to the tree. Sasuke then landed on their gauntlet covered arms and rammed his feet into their faces.

Recovering from the strikes to their faces, the attacking ninjas released the chain from their gauntlets and one rushed towards Sakura and Tazuna. While the other, ran for Naruto. Reaching for his kunai, Naruto saw that his attacker was about to slash at him. Raising his free hand, Naruto was going to try and grab the gauntlet. However, he miss calculated and was scratched by the sharp claws of his attackers gauntlet. The other one was almost with in striking distance of Tazuna and Sakura, when suddenly he was clotheslined in the neck by an alive, Kakashi.

'_Sensei is alive?_' Thought Sakura, glad that her teacher wasn't dead.

'_What a show off._' Thought Sasuke, peeved that he didn't get to fight anymore.

'_Phew, we're safe._' Thought Tazuna with great relief.

'_Kakashi-sensei, used Kawarimi…?_' Thought Naruto as he holstered his kunai, seeing as how his attacker had also been taken out by Kakashi.

Kakashi looked at his students. "Good work you guys. Naruto, their claws are soaked in poison. We have to remove it quickly. We need to open the wound and release the poisoned blood from your body. Don't move much or else the poison will spread." Kakashi said.

Naruto looked down at his bloodied hand in grimace. Ibiki would not like this.

"Tazuna-san, I need to talk with you." Said Kakashi as he looked over at their client.

A quick moment later, the attackers were tied up against a nearby tree. "These look like Hidden Mist Chuunins. These shinobis are known to continue fighting no matter what." Said Kakashi.

"How did you read our movements?" One of them asked.

"On a sunny day like today, when it hasn't rained in days there isn't going to be a puddle." Stated Kakashi.

"If you knew that, why did you let the brats fight?" Asked Tazuna.

"If I had wanted to I could have killed them both instantly, but there was something I needed to find out first… Who they were after." Kakashi explained as he turned his face towards Tazuna.

"What do you mean?" Asked the aged bridge builder, starting to sweat.

"Meaning…Were they after you or one of us? We haven't heard that there are shinobi after you. Our mission was to simply protect you from gangs and thieves. This has now become at least a B-ranked mission. This was suppose to be simple protection, until you completed the bridge. If it was known that ninjas were after you, this mission would have been set to the more expensive B-rank. I'm sure you had a good reason, but it causes problems when you lie about he mission. We are know operating outside of our duties." Explained Kakashi. His voice getting more serious with each word.

"We aren't ready for this mission. Let's quit. We will need medicine for Naruto's wound. We should go back to the village and take him to a doctor." Sakura said franticly.

"I guess we should return to the village to treat Naruto." Kakashi reasoned.

Tired of hearing about quitting the mission, Naruto grabbed his kunai and thrust in into the wound. Making the cut significantly bigger.

"NARUTO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Screamed Sakura. Wondering if her blond teammate had gone off the deep end or if he was a masochist.

'_I'm not going to need saving ever again. I refuse to be afraid and run. I won't lose to anyone. I swear it by the pain in my left hand._' Naruto pledged to himself. "With this kunai, I'll protect the old man. We're continuing the mission. We promised to fulfill the mission and I keep my promises." Naruto said with a hard look in his eyes as he faced his team.

"Naruto, it's good that you are releasing the poison, but anymore and you'll die from lack of blood." Kakashi said chipperly, giving him an eye smile.

'_Oh, great. She teaches me what poisons do and how to make them, but does she bother to teach me what to do if I get poisoned? Nooo, she doesn't. I'm going to smack Anko next time I see her._' Naruto thought to himself.

Examining Naruto's hand, Kakashi saw that the wound was already closed. '_Must be part of the fox's power._' He thought to himself.

"Hatake-san, I need to speak with you." Said Tazuna from behind Kakashi.

"Oh? About what?" The jounin asked turning around.

"It's about the mission. You're right this job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Who?" Kakashi asked arching an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You've probably at least heard of his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate, Gatou." Tazuna told Kakashi.

Kakashi's eye visibly widened at this, he had heard of Gatou. "Gatou? The Gatou from the Gatou Company? That Gatou? He's rumored to be one of the world's few extremely wealthy people."

"Officially, he runs a large shipping company. But, on the inside he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninjas and gangs to take over businesses and small countries. It was about a year ago when he set his sights on Wave country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the countries shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on all of the business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge." Continued Tazuna.

"If you knew that ninjas could be after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?" Kakashi asked the bridge builder.

"The Wave country is super poor. Even the Feudal Lord has no money. Of course we don't have much money either, not enough for the expensive B-rank mission." Tazuna said with a sigh.

Tazuna then told them that it was alright if they left. The worst that would happen, was he would be killed and the country would be completely taken over. Kakashi gave into the old man's speech and soon they where off again. Soon coming across a bout and rowing into Wave country.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a fortress in the middle of the forest, a short, brown haired, man in a fine silk suit was staring daggers at the tall, deadly man sitting before him next to an extremely large sword.

"YOU FAILED?!! I paid you guys a lot of money because I heard you were strong former ninjas." The short man yelled.

Faster than anyone could see, the tall man grabbed his sword and leveled it at the short man's neck. Just a hair's width from his Adam's Apple. "Stop your bitching, Gatou. This time I'll go myself and with this head slicing clever, kill them all."

"Are you sure? It seems the old man has hired some skilled Ninjas and with the failure of the Demon Brothers, they'll be better prepared."

"Who do you think I am…? There's a reason I'm called the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza." The man now known as Zabuza said.

* * *

A few hours later the three genin were sitting around the table at Tazuna's house. After coming across the river, they had an encounter with the missing Mist ninja known as Zabuza. Kakashi engaged the missing nin and for a while seemed to have the upper hand, until he got caught in a water prison. Luckily, thanks to his students, Kakashi was freed and beat Zabuza. Just as he was about to kill him. A few senbon needles came out of no where and struck the Mist-nin in the neck, killing him. From the trees, appeared a Mist hunter-nin and took Zabuza's body away. A moment later, Kakashi had passed out due to chakra exhaustion. Thus causing, the three genins to carry him to Tazuna's house. As they walked, Sasuke explained what the sharingan was.

"Are you alright, Sensei?" Asked Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just can't move for a week or so…" replied Kakashi, who was lying on a futon.

"So, who do you think that masked kid was?" Asked Sakura to her teammates.

"Well, by that mask, I'd say he's part of Hidden Mist's special Hunter-nin team. Hunter-nins are also known as body erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of the body without a trace. A ninja's body has within it secrets of the village's ninjutsu, information on different chakra types, herbs, and other things that will reveal things about the village. A ninja's body can reveal important information. So, by disposing of the Missing-nins who have abandoned their village, the Hunter-nins protect the information from getting out. They are the specialists who guard their village's secrets. No sound, No smell… That is a ninja's end." Kakashi told her and the others

While Sakura found it creepy, Naruto and Sasuke didn't really care.

**Elsewhere**

The masked Hunter-nin laid Zabuza's body down on the forest floor and began to move his hand towards the senbon needles in Zabuza's neck. Suddenly, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. The Missing-nin opened his eyes and looked at the Hunter-nin. "I'll do it myself." Zabuza said with a slight growl. The swordsman reached for the senbon needles and yanked them out of his neck.

"You'll really die if you keep pulling them out like that, Zabuza-sama." The Hunter-nin said.

"How long are you going to keep wearing that stupid mask?" Zabuza asked. Ignoring the Hunter-nin's statement.

"It reminds me of the old days… Plus, it was useful for this act." The Hunter-nin said as he removed the mask. Showing a rather beautiful face underneath. "If I hadn't saved you, you definitely would have been killed."

"If you were going to put my in a momentary death, you didn't have to use my neck… You could have aimed for a safer acupuncture point. You are annoying as always." Zabuza said as he adjusted the bandage mask to cover is neck.

"You're right." Replied the Hunter-nin with a smile.

**Much Later**

Naruto glared up a the tree he had been climbing. After some talking and thinking about it, it was agreed that Zabuza was still alive. So, Kakashi decided to train the three genins in tree climbing, by only using their feet and chakra. Naruto had already learned a lot about the usage of chakra, but had so far never tried anything. '_Damn. Reading is one thing, but doing it is a whole different story._' He thought with a grunt as he stood up and gazed upward at his mark. At least he was doing better than Sasuke, though not by much and Sakura had outclassed both of them. A few hours later, the sun had set and the tired genins dragged themselves back to Tazuna's house.

* * *

A few days later, Sakura was sent to guard Tazuna and escort him around the village, while Sasuke and Naruto continued to train on tree climbing. During her time of guarding him around the village, Sakura learned just how poor the village truly was and Tazuna's reasons for building the bridge. Naruto and Sasuke spent their day training on tree climbing. Sasuke had no passed Naruto, but Naruto was catching up to him. That evening the Konoha team learned about Inari's father and how he had been a hero in the village. Only to be brutal executed in public by Gatou. Naruto then left to continue his training into the night.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto was awaked by a stranger telling him he'd catch a cold if he kept sleeping on the forest floor. After finding out that the person was collecting herbs, Naruto decided to help out. "Is this the plant you want?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Thank you for helping out."

"You sure are working early this morning."

"So are you. What are you doing here at this time of the morning?"

"I'm training." Naruto told the herbalist.

"I take it then, by that forehead protector that you're a ninja?"

"Yes, I am."

"Wow you're incredible. Why are you training?"

"I want to get stronger."

"You already look strong."

"Thanks, but I want to get even stronger."

"Why is that?"

"So, I can become the strongest ninja in my village and achieve my dream. And right now, I need to prove something to someone." Naruto replied with great confection.

"Is that for yourself or someone else?"

Seeing Naruto confused look, the herbalist gave a soft laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Naruto, wondering if he had missed something.

"Nothing. But tell me, do you have an important person?"

Naruto thought for a moment before the herbalist continued, "When a person has something important to protect, that's when they can truly become strong."

"Yeah, I understand that very well."

The herbalist then stood up and looked Naruto in the eyes. "Then you will become strong. Let's meet again someday." The herbalist said walking away. "Oh and I'm a boy."

Naruto looked on in shock. The entire time he thought the herbalist hand been a woman. '_Damn, he's more in touch with his feminine side that Sakura._'

Sasuke soon came to join Naruto in the forest and the two of them spent the entire day practicing tree climbing. By nightfall they had made it to the top, even though they both could barely move. However, over dinner, there was a blow up with Inari yelling at Naruto wanting to know why he tried so hard. Naruto told him that if he kept crying nothing ever would change. After that, Naruto left and Inari went outside. Kakashi eventually came outside and joined him. Kakashi explained how Naruto had an even harder life then Inari, but not once had he ever been seen crying.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi, Sakrua, and Sasuke escorted Tazuna to the bridge; while Naruto slept in due to over training. Eventually, they came to the bridge to find everyone had been attacked and mist was closing in around the bridge. A moment later, they were surrounded by six Zabuza water clones. With the command for Kakashi, Sasuke leapt into action and disposed of them.

Meanwhile, Naruto had woken up to find that the team had left without him. Cursing himself for sleeping in, Naruto quickly got dressed and ran out the door. As he ran through the trees, Naruto head an odd noise. When he went to investigate, he saw that a boar had been killed with several sword slashes to its body. He looked around and saw that several cuts were also on the trees. They all seemed to lead back to Tazuna's house. Feeling that something was wrong, Naruto rushed back to the house to check on Tsunami and Inari. He arrived just in time to see Inari charge at two samurai thugs; to stop them from taking his mother. Just as they were about to kill him, Naruto used Kawarimi and saved Inari and Tsunami. Naruto then distracted the thugs and quickly took them out with his clones knocking them out from behind. Thus, showing Inari that heroes truly existed. He then apologized to the younger boy and told Inari that he had become strong. Naruto, then told him it was okay to cry if you were happy. Making sure Inari could handle things there, Naruto ran off once again; heading for the bridge.

* * *

Back on the bridge, Sasuke had engaged the fake Hunter-nin known as Haku in battle. For a while, they where on even ground. Sasuke was able to match him blow for blow. Then without warning, Haku began to do one handed seals, something the Leaf team had never seen before. Sasuke dodged the attack and once more engaged him in hand to hand combat, but this time Sasuke landed a hit on him. This caused Haku to use his special jutsu, Demonic Ice Mirrors. Sasuke was now trapped in a prison of ice mirrors. Shocking everyone, Haku stepped into the ice and began to appear on all of the ice mirrors. Kakashi ran over to help, but was stopped by Zabuza. The Missing-nin told him that he was to be Kakashi's opponent. Seconds later, Sasuke began to yell in pain as hundreds of senbon needles started to starch him, causing cuts, and a few of them piercing him. Sakura threw a kunai in between the mirrors to hopefully give Sasuke a weapon to defend himself. Unfortunately, it was blocked by Haku. What no one expected though was for Haku to be knocked out of the mirror when his mask was hit by a shuriken. Everyone looked over to see that Naruto Uzumaki had arrived.

* * *

Sasuke thought that with Naruto on the outside and him on the inside of the mirrors, he stood a better chance of finding away around the ice. However, he should have known his knuckleheaded teammate better,cause a moment later Naruto was inside the ice mirrors with him. After trying to melt it with a fire jutsu and smash all of the mirrors with Kage Bunshin, Kakashi realized why none of his students attacks were working, Haku had a bloodline limit. Haku asked for Naruto and Sasuke not to hate him, but he had to protect his dream. Even if it meant killing his heart and killing them. Kakashi knew that his students didn't have it in them to kill and realized that he would have to finish their battle, but first he had to get passed Zabuza. So, Kakashi lifted up his forehead protector revealing his sharingan. Seeing the sharingan revealed, Zabuza summoned a large amount of mist; knowing that the flaw of the sharingan was that you had to be able to see the opponent to use it properly. For the first moment, Kakashi thought that with the mist so thick that Zabuza wouldn't be able to see him. He was surprised to see the Missing-nin appear behind him, with his eyes closed. Zabuza reminded Kakashi that he was an expert in silent killing and could attack his target by sound only. He then realized that Zabuza was going after Tazuna and ran as fast as he could to intercept him, just as the Missing-nin swung his blade at the old man.

* * *

Back in the ice prison, things weren't going well for Naruto and Sasuke. Both of them had needles everywhere, but for some reason Sasuke's vision was becoming clearer and had even been able to dodge a few attacks. Once again Haku threw his needles at them; Sasuke jumped out of the way, pushing Naruto and himself away from the attack. As he stood up, Haku saw that Sasuke had awakened his sharingan. Seeing that it was time to end this fight, Haku aimed to take out Naruto instead of Sasuke. Seeing that the masked-nin was going for Naruto, Sasuke jumped in front of Naruto.

With a groan of pain, Naruto got to his knees. He had been starting to do more intense training with Gai and Lee, but he had never been in a fight like this. Every bone in his body ached and screamed in agony. This made it clearer to him them ever before, he did have a long way to go. He looked over his shoulder to see the masked-nin on the ground and Sasuke in front of him. As his eyes traveled upwards, he took more notice of Sasuke's wounds. Especially, the six needle sticking out of his neck.

"What's… with that face… Dobe?" Sasuke asked in a rasping breath.

"Why? …I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP, TEME!!" Naruto shouted out, not wanting to accept what was in from of him.

"I don't know… My body just moved on its own…"

No longer able to stand, Sasuke's body fell back.

"That man… My brother… I promised myself I wouldn't die until I killed him…" Sasuke rasped out in Naruto's arms. Closing his eyes as his final breath left his body.

Naruto continued to stare at Sasuke's face. As if, expecting him to wake up. He never noticed Haku standing up, but did hear the masked-nin's words.

"He landed a blow on me and without flinching… died to protect you. To protect a precious person, knowing I was a trap, he was still able to jump in. He is a shinobi that deserves respect. Is this your first death of a friend? This is the way of the shinobi…" Haku spoke as he stepped back into his mirror.

"Shut up." Naruto growled out. He was tired of talking, tired of being weak, and tired of not being able to do anything. It was time to show the world. Naruto raised up his head at the masked-nin, showing the vast changes he had gone through. Gone were the thin whicker marks; they were now more defined. His nails had sharpened into claws. His hair was slightly darker and more feral. The greatest changes were in his eyes. Gone, were the once shimmering blue orbs of hope. In there place, were two bright red, slit puipled eyes. With them came a tsunami of rage. "**I'll kill you.**" Naruto yelled out in rage.

For the first time in so many years, Haku felt something he thought he'd never feel again. Fear.

Bright red chakra swirled around Naruto's body, cutting into the concrete of the bridge. The needles in his body shot out as the cuts on his body healed. The chakra began to take shape above Naruto' head, in the form of a giant fox head. The head roared as Naruto sprang into action.

* * *

As Zabuza and Kakashi continued to battle it out, they felt the chakra emanating form Naruto. It was a power nlike anything ever felt before. '_Did the seal break?_' Kakashi thought to himself.

'_Who's doing is this? It can't be Kakashi's it's to strong to be his._' Zabuza thought to himself, wondering for a moment how Haku was fairing.

Kakashi removed a scroll for his pocket and opened it, tracing a smear of blood from his thumb over it. "Zabuza, if you can hear me, neither of us has time to waste. I'm a busy man, you're a busy man, so let's end this now." Kakashi said into he mist as the scroll snapped closed and landed between his thumbs and index fingers.

"Sounds interesting, what can you do in a situation like this? Show me, Kakashi." Spoke Zabuza's voice from somewhere in the mist.

* * *

Things were looking bleak for Haku. The boy had deflected his needles with only chakra. As he tried to attack from above, he had dodged out of the way and grabbed him before he could get back to a mirror. Then, with one mighty swing had punched him threw his mirror. Haku flew back and landed with a thud. The force of the blow sent him rolling back even further. Just as the mask had cracked, so to had his mirror. The mirrors shattered to the ground, while the mask slowly broke off. He saw the boy charging at him and as the final piece broke off, Haku knew he had failed to protect his precious person. It was the end for him.

Haku waited for Naruto to strike him down, but it didn't happen. Naruto had stopped mere inches from his face. "You're that guy from yesterday." Naruto said, recognizing Haku.

"Why did you stop? I killed your precious friend, yet you can't kill me?"

Naruto looked back at Sasuke's body. "Damn it!" Naruto yelled out as he struck Haku.

The force of the blow knocked him back, but wasn't enough to kill him. As he got to his feet, he told Naruto that people often made this mistake, in not killing their enemy. Letting them live without a dream or being needed. Letting them feel the pain of living. He told Naruto that by beating him, he has taken his reason for living. As Zabuza, had no need for a weak shinobi. Naruto couldn't understand how someone like Zabuza could be important to him. Haku then, begin to explain about his birth and how because of his and his mother's bloodline, his father had killed his mother and tried to kill him. Haku explained about the Country of Mist's civil wars and how because of those wars people with bloodline were feared and hunted down. Revealing that you had a bloodline meant death. After killing his father in self-defense, he realized that he was an unwanted person. Naruto was seeing the boy's point as he spoke. Haku asked Naruto about his dream. How if one person acknowledged him, wouldn't that person become his precious person. Naruto thought about Iruka, the first person to acknowledge him. Haku told him how Zabuza took him in, knowing about the bloodline, and acknowledged him. He was happy to be wanted. Zabuza needed him to be his weapon and he was. Haku looked Naruto in the eyes and said, "Naruto-kun, please kill me."

* * *

After slamming the scroll onto the ground, Kakashi has summoned his nin-dogs to attack from underground. As Zabuza had his eyes closed, he didn't see the attack until it was to late. Now, he was being held in place as the mist slowly started to disappear. Kakashi explained his reasons for letting Zabuza land his attacks on him. How thanks to his blood soaked weapons, Kakashi's nin-dogs could find him. Zabuza watched as Kakashi did a few hand seals and summoned chakra into his right hand. Kakashi told him how his ambition was dangerous. Zabuza argued that he was fighting for his ideals. Seeing that Zabuza was refusing to surrender, Kakashi began to charge.

* * *

Naruto looked at Haku not understanding his request.

"Why are you hesitating?" Haku asked.

"I don't understand. Is being strong the only reason for you to be alive? Something other than fighting, you could have been acknowledged for something else."

"… The day I met you in the forest, I thought you were like me. You should be able to understand. I'm sorry that you have to stain your hands."

"Is this the only way?"

"Yes." Haku answered in a soft voice.

Naruto unsheathed a kunai from his side holster and held it in a striking position.

"Please, fulfill your own dreams…"

"If we had met under different circumstances, we might've been friends." Naruto said as he readied himself.

"Thank you." Haku said as Naruto started to run at him. Haku knew that Naruto would one day be a strong nina, but what this would mean he would never see.

Just as Naruto was about to strike him, Haku sensed something. He sensed a massive amount of chakra rushing at Zabuza. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Naruto's arm, blocking the attack. "Sorry, Naruto-kun, but I can't die yet." Haku told the surprised boy and rapidly went through one-hand hand seals. A fraction of a second later, Haku was gone.

* * *

Kakashi thrust his had forward aiming right at Zabuza's stomach. The lightening chakra of his attack burnt through the flesh. The nin-dogs poofed out of existence, their summoning time over. Kakashi stared wide-eyed at the sight before him. It wasn't Zabuza that he had struck, but Haku instead. Kakashi's arm was straight through were the boy's heart was moments ago. Zabuza, looked on as the warm droplets of Haku's blood slowly slid down his face.

* * *

Back in the village, Inari had been going door to door trying to get support to go to the bridge and fight Gatou. He was at the last house and so far, he had no support.

"Giichi-san, please open up. Come to the bridge with me. If we all go together, we can defeat Gatou's men." Inari shouted through the door.

"I'm sorry Inari… We don't want to fight anymore. Even your father… The man called a hero, is no longer here. If we fight, there will be sacrifices. We don't want to lose anything precious again. Nobody wants to do anything they'd regret" Came the voice of Giichi from behind the door.

"I don't want to have any regrets either. That's why, we have to fight. I love my mom, my grandpa, you Giichi-san, and everyone in this city. I know now, that you can't protect anything by being a cry-baby. It is better to die on our feet, then to live on our knees." Inari said. The young boy then left to ready himself for the bridge.

Inside the house, Giichi's wife sat at their table. "Inari has become a man… Are you really going to let him go alone?" She asked.

Back at his house, Inari's mother was trying to dissuade her son from going to the bridge. Inari told her that even though he was a child, he knew what it meant to fight.

* * *

Seeing some figures in the distance from the clearing mist, Naruto ran towards them. He was shocked to see Kakashi's arm sticking through the chest of Haku. Now out of his daze, Zabuza grabbed his sword and swung it forward, intending to cut both of them in half. Kakashi jumped back and laid Haku on the ground. Naruto was angry at what Zabuza had tried to do, even after how much Haku cared for him; Zabuza was just going to cut through him. Kakashi ordered Naruto to stand his ground, it wasn't his fight. Seeing Naruto, Sakura called out to him. She asked where was Sasuke and upon seeing the pained look on his face, knew something had happened. Zabuza charged at Kakashi, but was stopped by a hard kick to the gut.

Sakura wanted to go and see what had happened to Sasuke, but refused to leave Tazuna. The old bridge builder offered to go with her, so she wouldn't be breaking her orders. Soon she was standing above the cold body of her beloved. Sakura, just stared down at Sasuke's cold body; not wanting to believe the sight before her eyes. Upon hearing Tazuna saying it was fine to cry, Sakura explained how she had memorized the 100 shinobi sayings and that one of the sayings was to always keep emotions on the inside. Unable to stop herself, Sakura began to cry. Tazuna stared down in pity. This was no way for someone to live.

The battle between Zabuza and Kakashi raged on. Zabuza's left arm was paralyzed, so he was using his right hand to swing his sword. As he rushed at Kakashi, he was slugged hard in the face. Zabuza swung his blade only to have Kakashi appear behind him. Kakashi stabbed Zabuza's right arm as he ducked a back swing from the blade. Now, both of his arms were useless. A voice from the other side of the bridge drew their attention. They all looked over to see a short man in a business suit with a small army of thugs, it seemed Gatou had arrived. Gatou reviled how he was planning to kill Zabuza. Seeing that he had been betrayed, there was no longer a reason to fight or kill the bridge builder. As they were talking, Gatou walked forward and proceeded to kick the dead body of Haku for his broken arm.

Naruto was pissed at the sight. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU BASTARD!!" Naruto shouted out. He then charged at Gatou, only to be stopped by his sensei.

"Say Something!! Weren't you friends?" Naruto shouted at Zabuza.

"Shut up kid. Haku is already dead."

"Don't you feel anything at all? Weren't the two of you always together?"

"As I was used by Gatou, I used Haku. That's all it was. It the world of shinobi there are only those who use, and those who are used. We shinobi are simply tools. What I wanted was his blood, not him. I have no regrets."

"Do you really mean that?" Naruto asked as his sensei tried to stop him.

"Stop Naruto. We aren't fighting him anymore." Kakashi said.

"I don't care. He's still my enemy." Naruto replied. Naruto then pointed a finger at Haku's dead body and said, "He really love you. You were his precious person. He loved you that much. Do you really feel nothing? Do you really not feel anything at all? If I become as strong as you… Will I become like you? He threw away his life for you!! Without his own dream… To die as a tool."

"Brat, don't you dare say another word." Zabuza said as he slowly turned to face Naruto; a small tear dripping down the side of his face.

"It pained him to have to fight you. Haku fought not only for me, but for you as well. He was too kind. I'm glad I got to face you in the end. Yeah, kid you may be right. A shinobi is still a human… We may not be able to become emotionless tools. I've lost. Kid let me borrow your kunai." All the while he spoke, Zabuza had been chewing away at his mask, so when Naruto tossed over his kunai, it was caught in his mouth by the handle.

With the kunai in place, Zabuza charged forward. Gatou ran back into the mob of thugs, telling them to kill them. As the thugs watched the injured Zabuza run towards them, it looked like an image of a demon had appeared above him. Gatou looked on is horror as Zabuza cut through the thugs. Zabuza wasn't slowing down, even though he had blades sticking out of his back. Soon Zabuza had broken through and stabbed Gatou in the chest. Zabuza yanked the kunai out and slit his throat open. As Gatou died, Zabuza turned around and upon seeingthe crazed look in his eyes, the thugs gave him a wide berth. After all, he had just taken out over half of their numbers.

Naruto and everyone else watched as Zabuza fell to the ground. "Don't look away. This is the end of a man who lived a difficult life." Kakashi said to Naruto.

* * *

A voice called out in the darkness. Sasuke slowly opened eyes to see Sakura kneeling next to him. "Sakura… You're heavy…" He gasped out. Seeing that Sasuke was alive, Sakura hugged him in joy. Sakura soon began to gush over Sasuke. Eventually, telling him that Naruto was fine and Haku was dead. Sakura yelled over at Naruto telling him that Sasuke was fine. Naruto looked behind him, to see Sasuke standing up.

At this point the thugs decided to make themselves known again. They explained to the ninjas how they were going to ravage the town as a response to them killing Gatou. He wasn't much to them, but he was a meal ticket. As they ran forward in mass, a single arrow came down from the sky. Everyone turned to look at the far see of the bridge to see the entire village; each of them with weapons drawn. The thugs looked to see that Naruto and Kakashi had preformed Kage Bunshin, resulting in several copies of them. Not wanting to get into a fight, they turned tail and ran. Scrambling back into the boat they had arrived in.

(**AN: this is where things get different.**)

After the thugs had left, Kakashi and Naruto walked over to Zabuza's fallen body.

"It looks like it's over, Kakashi… I have a request Kakashi, I want to see his face one last time." Gasped out the dying nin.

"Sure." Replied Kakashi as he slid his forehead protector back over his sharingan. He looked at Naruto and said, "Go get Zabuza's sword." Kakashi then knelt down and began to carefully pull the blades out of Zabuza's back.

Naruto walked over to Zabuza's large sword and picked it up. He was surprised by the weight of the large weapon. '_Wow, this would be one impressive sword to use._' The young blond thought to himself as he carried the weapon back to Kakashi and Zabuza. His sensei had just pulled the last blade out and was now carefully picking up Zabuza in his arm. As he lifted up the missing Mist-nin. It began to softly snow.

"Hey Sensei, is it true what Zabuza-san and Haku-kun said? Is this really, what being a shinobi is all about?" Asked Naruto.

"Sadly, for many it is Naruto. Ninjas aren't know for living very peaceful lives. Each and every ninja has to live and deal with that issue…" Kakashi replied to his young student.

"Ok, I've just decided. I'm going to be a ninja in my own way and change what it means to be one." Naruto said confidently.

Kakashi gave Naruto an upside down eye-smile. If anyone could, it would be him. Kakashi carefully knelt down and laid Zabuza's dying body next to Haku. Naruto then, placed his sword next to him.

'_Are you crying, Haku?_' Zabuza thought as he looked at the face of the boy who had become a son to him. "If I could… I'd like to go… To go to the same… Place as you…" Zabuza rasped out.

"You can, Zabuza." Said Kakashi.

"Yes, but first I have to do something." Zabuza turned his head to Kakashi and Naruto, staring up at them from his position on the ground. "Here brat, take my sword." He said to Naruto.

"Why?" Asked Naruto as he walked over.

"You said you planned to change the meaning of what it means to be a ninja. So, I've decided to give you my sword to help you. It's the duty of a member of Kiri no Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, to pick the successor of his blade. And, I've picked you kid. I want you to take Kubikiri Hocho and carve your way of the ninja into the world. I'll be looking down on you from time to time. Being my successor makes you part of Mist now. That'll be fun to see." Rasped out Zabuza.

With his dying strength, he lifted up Kubikiri's handle off the ground and nudged it over to Naruto, who had knelt down by him. Kakashi, had walked over to check on Sasuke. As Naruto grasped the blade, Zabuza handed him his forehead protector and then turned back to face Haku.

"Hey… Brat. Gatou's base… Is located about… 3 miles south of here…" Rasped out Zabuza.

"Why are you telling me this?" Asked the curious Leaf-nin.

"The most… Valuable thing… To a shinobi… Is knowledge… I figured… You might… Find something… There." Zabuza told his successor. A moment later, Zabuza breathed his last and was no more. Naruto stood and shed a silent tear for the ninjas who taught him so much.

* * *

A few hours later, they had bandaged up Sasuke, who would need to stay in bed for a few days, and buried Zabuza and Haku. Night had fallen over the village and for the first time in years, everyone was sleeping peacefully. All, except one that is. Naruto Uzumaki was wide awake.

'_I guess it's time._' Naruto thought to himself.

He silently got out of bed, grabbed his pack and climbed out the window. He then summoned a kage bunshin to stay in the house. With the bunshin taking his place in bed, Naruto ran into the forest. Once he was sure he was safely alone, Naruto opened his pack and unzipped a hidden compartment inside. He took the objects out, which happened to be some clothes and began to change. A moment later and Naruto was no longer the genin from Konoha, he was now the Doctor.

'_Time to operate._' Naruto thought to himself once his mask was securely in place. Naruto then, took off running east. Soon, he had arrived at two freshly dug graves. The graves of Zabuza and Haku. Naruto began to dig up Haku as he thought back to how he had learned what he was about to do.

**Flashback no Jutsu**

_**Three days before genin team placements**_

Naruto sat in the field mediating. Soon, he would himself in his mindscape. '_I guess Kyuubi wants to talk._' He thought as he walked towards the demon's room.

"**It's good to see that you've started to get stronger brat.**" Said the fox as Naruto stepped in. "**I'm rather impressed by your torture codename: The Doctor. So, I've decided to teach you a very special ability to go with it.**"

"Oh? What?" Asked Naruto, wondering what the fox could teach him to go with his codename.

"**Tell me, have you ever heard of Kekkei Genkai?**" Asked Kyuubi to her host. Naruto shook his head at this.

"**A Kekkei Genkai is what's known as a Bloodline Limit. They are abilities passed down from parent to child. These abilities are stored in the D.N.A. of the person's body. The D.N.A. is located in the cells of a person's body and the body is completely made up of cells. Everything from your hair, to your blood is made up of cells. Therefore, it all holds the D.N.A. What you will need to do separate the part of the D.N.A. that has the Bloodline from the rest and then inject it into yourself. The ability I'm going to teach you will help with that.**" Explained the fox.

So, for the rest of the day, Naruto learned how to take bloodlines.

**End Flashback**

Naruto now had Haku's body unearthed and slightly unwrapped. He opened his jacket and took out a syringe and a small bottle. Naruto then stuck the needle of the syringe into Haku's body and began to take out blood. Once the syringe was full, he pulled it out and with great focus, Naruto made a bowl with his chakra. He poured the blood into the bowl and then began to focus hard. Naruto chakra turned green. Soon, a separate smaller and darker liquid formed apart from the blood. Naruto poured this into the bottle and proceeded to do the same thing over and over again several more time. After several sticks with the needle into Haku's body to bottle was full. Naruto discarded the needle and carefully, reburied Haku. He then took out a second syringe with a much larger barrel and placed the neddle into the D.N.A. Naruto the pulled up on the plunger, forcing the D.N.A. into the barrel. Once it was all in, Naruto quickly discarded the bottle. He then looked at the syringe that was about to change his life. Naruto sat down on the ground and rolled up his right pant's leg.

'_Here goes nothing._' He thought to himself as he stabbed himself in the calf with the needle. Naruto pushed down of the plunger, forcing the D.N.A. into his body.

'_Hey, that wasn't so bad._' He thought as the last of the D.N.A. had gone in and he was pulling the needle out. It was at that moment that a blinding pain took a hold of him, starting at his calf and working its way to the rest of his body. '_SHIT THIS HURTS!!_' Naruto screamed inside his head, but he dare not open his mouth outside, for fear of being discovered. After several agonizing minutes of pain, it was all gone. He felt perfectly fine.

'_Is it over?_' He asked himself.

'_**Yes, you have the Mist-nin's Bloodline.**_' Came the voice of Kyuubi from within him.

'_Are you sure? I don't feel any different._' Naruto asked the fox.

'_**Yes, you didn't go through all of that pain for nothing. Though it may take you a while to learn to use this Kekkei Gekai to it's fullest, as you don't have anyone to teach you about it.**_' The fox replied.

Naruto, saw the 9-tails point. According to Haku, he was the last one with this bloodline, so there was no one to teach him how to use it. Naruto stood up and discarded the syringe. He then stretched his legs and arms for a moment, before running off south as fast as he could.

* * *

After, about half an hour of running, Naruto had arrived at what he assumed was Gatou's base. He hid up in the trees to take a look around. With in a few minutes, he could tell that there were still some low-level ninjas around on the bottom floor, but there didn't seem to be any on the upper levels. Luckily, for Naruto there was an open window, so he wouldn't have to worry about making to much noise with unlocking one.

After climbing through the window, Naruto took a look around the room and saw that it was rather barren. Just a large bed, a few chairs, and a desk with a scroll on it. Since, he was looking for anything of value, Naruto decided to take a look at the scroll. After all, Gatou was dead, so this stuff was of no use to him anymore. Opening the scroll, Naruto was surprised to see that it was a scroll of instructions on how to weld Kubikiri. '_So, I guess this would have been Zabuza's room._' Naruto thought to himself, as he placed the scroll in the pocket of his jacket.

Naruto then left the room and looked around the others. In most of the rooms, he didn't find anything interesting. Just some kunai, exploding tags, and a few jutsu scrolls. One of them was called, _**Juryoku Seal Technique**_. Naruto didn't bother to read the full description of it, but it seemed to help with muscle resistant training. He'd show it to Gai and see what he thought. Naruto did wonder though, if seals could do that; what else could they do?

Soon, he was at the last door and opened it; He was surprised to see someone in the room. By the look of it, it had to be Gatou's office. It seemed that one of the renegade ninjas from Zabuza's group had decided to raid the office. He had opened the vault, behind the desk, and was reading the papers from a file. About this time the door had creaked, causing the ninja to look up at Naruto.

"_Shit_." The shinobi and Naruto said/thought at the same time. As Naruto reached for his kunai, he was surprised to see a small blink of light in front of the Mist shinobi. From the light came two kunai, the shinobi grabbed them and threw them at Naruto. Seeing the oncoming weapons, Naruto quickly threw his own and knocked the ninja's kunai out of the air. What the ninja hadn't expected was a third kunai. So, he was deeply shocked when he felt the steel of a sharpened kunai rip through the side of his neck. With the massive amounts of blood he was losing from the cut, he was soon dead. Naruto hadn't wanted to kill, but no one could know he was here. Cautiously, he crossed the large office and confirmed that the ninja was indeed dead.

'_**Looks like, he has a Kekkei Genkai. Go on and take it,**_' came the voice of Kyuubi.

It did make sense, to him. So, kneeling down next to the dead shinobi, Naruto began to focus his chakra on the ninja's body as he pulled out a small bottle, not even bothering to use a syringe to take out blood. Once he pulled out enough D.N.A., Naruto filled the bottle and took out another syringe. After filling the barrel of the syringe, Naruto then stuck himself in both arms and both legs. After a few moments the pain passed, though it hadn't been a bad as it was with Haku's bloodline.

'_**Interesting, it seems this shinobi had two bloodlines. One of them was that blinking you saw. Apparently, it allows the user to place an infinite number of items in a pocket space and call forth any item from anywhere.**_' Came Kyuubi's voice after the merging was done.

'_Quick question. What's a pocket dimension?_' Asked Naruto to his demon.

'_**A pocket dimension is a space of reality that exists, but does not. No time passes there. Try sending one of your kunai there. Just think of the kunai floating in a void.**_' Kyuubi said.

Following the demon's advice, Naruto took out a kunai and began to focus. A moment later, there was a blink and the kunai was gone. Naruto blinked in surprise and focused again. This time, calling the kunai back with another blink. '_This could be a lot of fun._' He thought to himself.

'_Hey Kyuubi, what's the other bloodline?_' Naruto asked the fox. Wondering what else he had gotten from the ninja.

'_**The other bloodline, seems to be a memory viewer.**_' Stated Kyuubi.

'_What do you mean?_'

'_**Summon some chakra into your hand, while thinking about a memory.**_'

Naruto, summoned some chakra into his hand while thinking of receiving his forehead protector from Iruka. He watched in fascination as in his hand a small orb started to form. After a moment, it was finished. The orb was a pale yellow in color and was about the size of a large marble.

'_**Now, you just simply summon chakra into which ever hand is holding the marble and you or anyone else can see the memory.**_' Explained the demon sagely. Naruto thought it was a little dull, but it would come in handy if he should ever see something that he would have to prove. He silently placed the memory marble in his pocket as he walked over to the desk to see what the ninja had been reading.

Skimming through the papers, Naruto saw that it was papers on Gatou's different businesses. Nothing about them really grabbed his attention, except for the fact that Gatou was stupid enough to keep records of both sides of his business together. The last paper was a bit of a surprise though. It was the location of Gatou's vast fortune. Wondering if it would work, Naruto closed his eyes and began to concentrate hard. He imaged summoning the money to him and a moment later there was a blink. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and quickly opened them completely, at the sight of all of the money. '_Holy crap!!_' He thought in surprise. There was more money on the desk and around the desk, than he'd ever make. '_Well, it won't do Gatou any good, so…_' Naruto thought as he blinked the money to his void.

'_**You know mortal, with that bloodline, you probably could access my treasures on this plane.**_' Kyuubi spoke suddenly.

'_How so? What treasures?_' Asked Naruto.

Kyuubi then explained about how she had collected vast amounts of treasures and hid them away in a few well selected parts of the world. Naruto asked why the demon was telling him this. To which, she replied, that if she was going to be sealed the treasures should be put to good use. After learning the location of the different treasure spots, Naruto focused once more and again there was a blink. Naruto looked around in shock and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from yelling out in surprise. The entire room was filled with treasure and it was a rather large room. The room was large enough to fit Naruto's apartment in it twice with room left over. All around the room there were piles of gold and silver, scrolls, some weapons, and other items. Naruto quickly sent everything to his void. With Gatou's money, now his money, and Kyuubi's treasures he'd be set for life. '_I guess when I get back to Konoha, I should do some shopping._' Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto then left the room and began to head back to Zabuza's room to make his escape from Gatou's fortress. He was able to get to the room and out of the fortress with out being detected. However, he was unprepared for the explosion that had gone off, when he landed on a branch.

Naruto rolled as he crashed down on the forest floor. He sprang up immediately, holding a kunai in each hand and he looked around on guard. "Kage Bunshin!" Naruto yelled out summoning 7 clones. Up from above to figures dropped down. Naruto and his clones were cautious as they stepped closer. As they stepped into the moonlight, Naruto could see that they were both male and shinobi of Iwagakure. The shorter of the two men and by the looks of it, the older of the two, had bright red hair and was wearing a large brown colored headpiece with three crown-like ridges. On the headpiece was his forehead protector and over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose was a piece of black armor. He was wearing a light purple outfit with brown armor. The taller of the two Iwa-nins was a completely different story. He was indeed tall, easily the tallest person Naruto had ever seen. The Iwa-nin looked to be a head taller than Gai and was covered in bright red steam-armor, he even had a furnace on his back that was admitting steam.

"Well, seems like we got lucky, eh Roshi-sempai?" Said the taller of the two, glancing at his shorter partner.

"It does, Han-san." Replied the older shinobi.

The taller one, now known as Han, looked back at Naruto and said, "Alright, punk. Tell us where your boss is and we won't kill you."

"What boss? Who the fuck, are you?" Naruto shouted back.

"I am Roshi the jinchuriki of Yonbi and this is Han the jinchuriki of Gobi." Replied Roshi.

"Brothers?" Asked Naruto, surprised at seeing other jinchurikis.

"Actually, no-" started Roshi, before Naruto cut him off.

"No. I mean '_brothers_' as in, you are also jinchurikis too?" Said Naruto.

"Yes, I take it from how you asked that question, that you are one as well?" Asked Roshi.

"Yes I am Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuriki of Kyuubi." Naruto replied.

This caused both of the Iwa-nin's eyes to widen in shock. "That's impossible, the Kyuubi was killed by the 4th Hokage of Konoha." Stated Han, in disbelief.

"No, it's true. Kyuubi is sealed inside of me. Watch," said Naruto. He began to carefully focus his chakra and soon he had Kyuubi's red chakra flowing around him. The chakra then molded together above him and formed the head of a vicious looking fox.

Han and Roshi looked on in surprise as the masked-nin known as Naruto called forth the demonic chakra of Kyuubi. Deep inside themselves they felt their demon's shudder of fear. This kid had to be the real deal. He then suddenly canceled his flow of chakra.

"Since we are all the same, there shouldn't be any reason for us to fight. After all, jinchurikis should look out after each other, as no one else will. Now, what are you here to do brothers and how my I help you?" Naruto said sagely.

Seeing the young nin's logic, Roshi replied saying, "We were hired to kill Gatou. Our employer said he was last seen in this area."

"Gatou was in this area. However, he was killed earlier today. If you travel, about 3 miles north of here, you will come across a large incomplete bridge. At the end of the bridge, that has yet to be finished, is where his body was tossed into the river. If you need to retrieve the body, I suggest you avoid the town and summoning chakra." Explained Naruto.

"Why should we avoid the town?" Asked Han.

"The legendary Kakashi is in the town on a mission. And it would be best if there was no confrontation. As I'm not suppose to be here." Naruto told them.

Naruto then escorted them to the bridge where Gatou had been killed by Zabuza. Once there, Han jumped into the river and a moment later resurfaced was Gatou's headless body in slung over his right shoulder and his head in Han's left hand. Roshi, then wrapped up the body and sealed it. Both of them thanked Naruto and then, headed off to turn in a successful kill.

'_Wow. Apparently, Gatou is doing people better being dead than he was being alive._' Naruto thought as he ran back to Tazuna's house. He stopped by his hidden pack and changed back into his pajamas. He then summoned out his Kage Bunshin and dispelled it. Very quietly Naruto snuck back in and laid down on the futon. Moments later, he was asleep.

* * *

Over the next week and a half they finished the bridge. The work went by fast, with the help of Naruto's massive clone army. During that time, Sasuke also healed. All to soon, it was time for Team 7 to leave. With tearful good-byes from Inari and Naruto, the Konoha team headed home.

"You know, we have still yet to name the bridge." Said Tsunami to her father.

The aged bridge builder stroked his bearded chin thoughtfully. "I think I've got the perfect name for it." Tazuna said.

"What is it, Grandpa?" Asked Inari as he looked up into his grandfather's eyes.

"How about… **The Great Naruto Bridge**?"

"That's a super good name, Grandpa." Replied Inari.

**Konoha**

**A couple of days later**

Team 7 was tired after two days of intense traveling, but they were glad to be home. Kakashi sent them to there respective homes to dump their travel packs, before meeting up at the Hokage tower to give their report. 15 minutes later, Team 7 stood in the Hokage's office giving their report of the mission to Wave.

"And then, we returned home sir." Kakashi said in conclusion as he finished giving a 30 minute report to the Third.

"I see. Well, given the circumstances you will be marked as having completed an A and C-ranked mission and will be paid as such. You are dismissed." Replied Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Team 7 politely bowed and proceeded to make their way out of the office as the Hokage called out. "Naruto-kun, could you stay a moment?"

Wondering what the old man would have to say to him, Naruto hung back and waited for Kakashi to close the door, before saying, "What's up old man?"

"Oh, nothing much. Some paperwork here and there, a few surprise attacks by Konohamaru. Nothing out of the ordinary for me. However, there is a bit of news for you." Replied the Hokage.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, wondering what he Hokage had to say.

"It seems, that while you were away, your landlord passed away. The man had no living relatives, so in his will he put that everything would go to his tenets. As you are the only tenet in the apartment complex, everything goes to you. Here is a list of what you gained from him." The Hokage told him. The Third then handed Naruto a folder.

Naruto nodded he head and walked out. He wasn't sure what to think about this. He had hated the man that had been his landlord these past 9 years. The man had been old and bitter. Naruto wondered if he was bitter because of who he was or if he just was that way. The man had been mean to everyone. Naruto decided to take a look at the file in the comfort of his apartment. Well, apartment complex, now.

Once in his apartment, Naruto opened the folder as he sat down at the table. '_Let's see what I got here…_' He thought as he looked at the list.

_1 apartment complex_

_The abandoned lot and condemned buildings across the street form said apartment complex._

_969,000 ryu_

Naruto was surprised at getting the lot across the street and the money. The lot had been an eye sore of years, even before the attack 13 years ago. He also, had no idea the man had a good amount of money saved up. But then again, the landlord had hated spending money.

'_What the hell am I going to do?_' Thought Naruto as he banged his head on the table.

'_**Well, if you'd stop killing the last of your brain cells, insect. I could make a suggestion.**_' Came the disgruntled voice of Kyuubi from within.

'_What's the suggestion?_'

'_**With the money you have gained and the land you now own, why not make it work for you?**_'

'_And how would I do that?_'

'_**You would go to the library and check out books on remodeling, repairing building, building buildings, electric wiring, landscaping, and business management. Then, fix up this hotel and get it looking brand new, give it a good name and reopen it. You'd demolish the buildings across the street and build new ones to open new businesses. I also recommend that you learn the trade of the businesses you plan to open. If you want to get more respect from the village, try being in the business world of things.**_' Explained the demon.

'_That could take a while._' Naruto thought back.

'_**Yeah… IT'S A SHAME YOU DON'T HAVE SOMETHING LIKE KAGE BUNSHIN OR KAGE BUTTAI, YOU IDIOT!!**_' Roared out the fox, causing Naruto to fall out of his chair.

'_Okay. I see your point. No need to yell._' Naruto thought as he got up to head out. He summoned a clone for the library and went to get some ramen for himself.

* * *

Later, when he returned home after a filling lunch of Ramen, Naruto flipped through the books that the clone had dropped off. After looking through them for a moment, Naruto created 100 copies of each of the six books and then 600 clones. When he handed the last book to the last clone, Naruto himself headed for the **Konoha Building Commissions Office** to get a building permit. While there, he was given the cold shoulder, but a quick flash of some money and he left the office with his permit. On the walk home, Naruto thought on how to remodel the apartment complex and what to name it. Naruto wanted it to be shinobi friendly. He decided that the first two floors would be single bed units. The next two floors, would be two bed units, and the last two floors would be three bed units. After all, ninjas have families. On the roof, he'd build a pool for the residents.

After drawing up the plans and sending a few clones under henge, to see the price listings of other apartment complexes, Naruto went out and ordered enough appliances and furniture for the apartments. When he returned, he had the clones stop reading and started to tear up the old carpet, rip the peeling wallpaper off. They then gathered up the garbage and took it to the dump. Naruto then returned home and dispelled the clones. He fell back onto his futon from the overload of knowledge.

* * *

Naruto awoke early the next morning and immediately set off for the hardware store. After nearly buying out the entire store, Naruto summoned an army of clones to help him carry the stuff. Upon arriving back at the apartment complex, Naruto and his clones got to work. They tore down walls; put it new support beams, better insulation, new sheetrock, better wiring and pipes, sound proofed each unit, and carefully removed everything from the 8th floor, before he ripped up the roof to build the pool. After they were done, each apartment was painted a nice tan brown, had wooden flooring, and new furniture. The hallways were painted the same brown color with a baseline of dark red. The hallways had carpets of a dark red color and on each tanned door was a golden number. The outside had been painted a dark red and up at the top was an 8-foot high metal fence around the roof for the pool. The pool covered about half of the roof space and was in the middle. Seeing that everything had worked out well, Naruto hung the sign, baring the new name, above the main entrance; it read, **Maelstrom Apartments**. Knowing the building wouldn't be livable until the smell of the paint left, Naruto headed to the forest for the night. Naruto wanted to get a good night's sleep as he would be rejoining Gai and Lee in the morning. After finding a good place to sleep, Naruto dispelled his clones and fell asleep.

* * *

Naruto woke up the next morning to feel something fuzzy around him. He opened his eyes as he sat up and looked around him. During the night, a group of 6 foxes had decided to make him home. '_I guess they think, I'm a fox._' Naruto thought to himself. Seeing that his movements had disturbed the foxes and they were now looking at him, Naruto batted his hand at them. "Shoo." He said as he didn't want them to get hurt. Foxes weren't well liked in Konoha. He then got up and headed to the apartment complex to check on everything.

After seeing that everything was alright and sending a clone out to print up some fliers and post them around town, Naruto grabbed the scroll he had found and headed for training ground 12 to meet up with Gai and Lee.

"Gai-sensei, Lee-kun, I'm back." Naruto called out as he caught sight of the two green spandex wearing dou.

"Ah, Naruto-kun good to see your flames of youth have returned. How was your mission?" Said Gai as he turned to face the blond haired genin.

"It's great to see you again, Naruto-kun." Greeted Lee.

"Thanks Lee, you too. My mission went well, Gai-sensei. In fact, I even found this. Do you think it will help us?" Said Naruto as he handed the scroll to Gai.

Gai looked over the scroll for a moment, before his eyes widened in shock. "Naruto-kun, do you know what this is?"

"A scroll with an interesting jutsu, that I bought really cheap while on my mission?" He answered.

"Well, yes. But that's not all. This happens to be the very rare, _**Juryoku Seal Technique**_. With this, we can improve a fighter's strength without having to use weights. We would only need to change the seal. It's great that you found this, Naruto-kun. As I was planning on, assigning you some weights when you got back. However, you'd have full body weights, so you'd be somewhat bulky. With this, I won't have to." Gai explained.

"Oh, cool. So, can we do it now?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Sure. Naruto take off your shirt and I want both of you to roll up your pants." Gai ordered his students.

Naruto took off his shirt and rolled up his pants, as Lee removed his weights and rolled up his pants.

Gai then, took out a brush and a complex chakra conducting ink and proceed to add juryoku seals to them. On each leg, Lee was sealed with 350 pounds. On Naruto's legs he had 150 on each of them, 100 on each arm, and 200 on his torso. It took several minutes to get use to this new feeling. For Naruto, he had never felt this sort of training was possible. For Lee, it was odd to not be wearing his weights anymore.

After 5 minutes of walking around and getting use to the new weight to their bodies, Gai had them start their workout. They did 300 kicks with each leg, 300 punches with each arm, ran 100 times around the village, and finished it all off with b practicing the stances in their respective taijutsu forums. While in their stances, Gai corrected them on what they were doing wrong and helping them to correct it. When they finished, it was mid morning and before leaving to meet up with Neji and Ten-ten Gai turned to Naruto and said, "Good workout this morning Naruto-kun. Have you by any chance had an opportunity to get a weapon that fits your style?"

"No. Not yet, Gai-sensei." Naruto replied.

"Well, there's a nice weapon's store known as, **The Butcher Shop**. I recommend going there." Gai told him before jumping away.

After a few more minutes of gasping for breath, Naruto groaned as he realized that Gai hadn't told him where the shop was located.

'_Well, at least it's a nice day to wonder around the village._' Naruto thought to himself as he headed towards the village. Thankful, that he didn't have to meet with Ibiki until tomorrow and then his team the day after that. Naruto summoned a few clones to search around the city, while he had an early lunch.

The clones had found **The Butcher Shop**, while he was eating. It was located in the oak district of the village. Naruto walked into the shop and was rather impressed by the atmosphere of the place. It was brightly lit with a low ceiling and several of the weapons were on display. "Welcome to **The Butcher Shop**, how may I help you?" came a voice to the side.

Naruto looked over and saw that a tall, thinly bearded man with a heavy gray apron was sitting behind the counter. "Yes, I'm here for a weapon." Replied the blonde.

"You're Uzumaki Naruto, part of the rookie 9 right?" Asked the man.

"Um, yes sir." Naruto answered hoping he wasn't about to get thrown out.

"My name's Jet. You're the first of the rookies to come and see about a weapon. Well, any idea which one you want?" Jet asked.

"Sorry sir, but no. I did read that weapons should reflect the welder's personality and I was hoping to find such a weapon here." Naruto replied.

Jet rubbed is chin and looked at Naruto. "Definitely not a sword or a mace. Do you use a Taijutsu style?"

"Yes sir, Gai-sensei is teaching it to me."

"Is it long or short range?"

"Short range."

"Is the style meant to be powerful, fast, or a combination of the two?

"A combination of the two."

"Last question, do you have a lot of chakra?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then I think I've got just the weapon for you." Jet replied as he stood up and walked to the back room of the shop. When he returned he was carrying a large, polished, wooden box.

Jet placed the box on the counter in front of Naruto and said, "Take a look and tell me what you think."

Naruto carefully opened the box and looked inside to see two gleaming steel gauntlets. They looked similar to the ones the Demon Brothers used, except of a better quality. "Very impressive, Jet-san. But, I take it, that there's more to them than what I'm seeing." Replied Naruto.

"Correct. I call them the Immortals. These gauntlets are the greatest thing I've ever forged. When you summon chakra to certain parts of your arms and hands the gauntlets will react. When you summon chakra to your fingers, the steel will harden and become sharper then ever before. You'll be able to rip through stone lie its paper. Summon chakra to your hands and the poison will be released onto the claws. Summon chakra to the underside of your arms and the blades come forth." Jet demonstrated each function as he told Naruto about them.

Naruto was impressed with the gauntlets. Currently, he was looking at the 3 foot blade that had emerged from a compartment on the underside of the gauntlet.

"Now, when you summon chakra to the top of your arms, is were things change. The left gauntlet will form a shield and the right gauntlet will shoot out these." Jet continued saying, as he formed the shield and showed Naruto an inch and a quarter long steel stake.

"How much for the Immortals, 3 rolls of 100ft. reinforced ninja wire, two sets of kunai, and a box of shuriken?" Asked Naruto excitedly.

Jet grabbed the rest of Naruto order and rang it up. "Your total is 250,863 ryu."

Naruto happy paid the shocked smithy, who hadn't expected him to really have that much money for such an expensive weapon. Naruto then left and placed the weapons in the landlord's office of the apartment complex. He took note of how no one had been by to inquire about the place. Sighing to himself, He went out with a few clones to buy a weight lifting set. After buying a barbell set and weight bench with 900 pounds worth of interchangeable weights, Naruto summoned another army of clones and proceeded to demolish the condemned building across the street from the apartments. Once the last of the rubble was at the city dump, Naruto sent his clones to the forest to work on making chakra strings and studying the scroll for Kubikiri. Naruto then, began to lift weights to increase the strength of his arms, so he'd be able to weld Kubikiri better. After a few hours of lifting 150 pounds on each arm with the barbells and bench pressing 225 pounds, Naruto ate a light upper and dispelled his clones in the forest. As his mind assembled the knowledge form the clones, he discovered that the foxes had been watching his clones.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto awoke early and joined Gai and Lee for their morning training. It was nearly mid-morning, by the time training was done. Naruto returned to his apartment for a light late breakfast and had a quick shower before changing clothes, putting on his mask and heading for the ANBU headquarters. As he walked down the hall to Ibiki's office, Naruto waved to a few of the ANBU milling about the hallways. Upon arriving at the door to Ibiki's office, Naruto knocked. "Enter." Came the hard voice of his sensei.

"Morning, Ibiki-san." Naruto called out as he opened the door.

"Good morning, to you doctor." Ibiki replied as he couldn't say Naruto's name.

"How was your mission doctor?" Ibiki asked, intrigued about how his student's first C-rank mission had gone.

"Oh, it went well for an A-ranked mission."

Even though he didn't show it, Ibiki's eyebrows slightly rose. He hadn't been aware that the mission had been upgraded.

"Well, doctor your training has been going very well. I'm impressed with your work ethic for it. So, since we don't have any patients for you to operate on today, I'm going to teach you a jutsu." Ibiki said as he stood up from his desk. "Follow me." The two men then walked down a few floors to the torture rooms and stepped inside.

"What I'm going to be teaching you is what is known as _**Killing Intent**_. It's easy to describe, but hard to master. In order to better understand this. I will perform it on you." Ibiki said righ before hitting Naruto with the technique.

The was blood everywhere. So, much blood. Death embraced his body completely and then it was gone. Unable to stop himself, Naruto fell down on his hands and knees. '_What the hell, was that?_' the masked blond thought to himself, just before he had to push up his mask to throw up.

"That was _**Killing Intent**_, doctor. Since it will take you a while to master, we've got this for you." Ibiki said as he opened the door and in walked an ANBU with a dog on a leash.

"Until you can make this dog cower from it, you will not have mastered the technique. Now, time to work." Ibiki said as he and the ANBU left Naruto with the dog. After a few hours, the only reactions form the dog he got was yawning and laying down. Naruto left just before lunch and had his lunch at **Ichiraku Ramen Stand**.

Afterwards, Naruto and his army of clones began to start work on building some businesses across from the apartment complex. First, he was going to build a grocery store and a book store, right in front of the apartments. After all, ninjas got to read and eat right? Next, was going to be a toy store, a clothes shop, and a furniture store, Across from those stores would be, A weapons shop, and two empty buildings to become businesses later. On the other side of them, would be three restaurants. After several hours, of working hard, they had finished. Now that the buildings for them were complete, Naruto just simply had to start the businesses. As he walked back into the apartment, Naruto was surprised to see that some people had decided to see about renting out some of the units. A couple had even asked if the three bed rooms were available. Naruto wrote down the dates and times for their arrivals. '_Looks like tomorrows going to be a good time._' Naruto thought to himself as he dispelled his clones and fell asleep.

* * *

From the time he woke up, Naruto hit the ground running. He did his morning training with Gai and Lee, before sending a clone off to the **ANBU Headquarters** and running off to meet his team. His team completed their mission early and Naruto then left to get some quick weapons training in. After getting a feel for the sword and gauntlets, he summoned an army of 400 clones to practice using them. He then returned to the apartment and wrote a few letters, several of them were to farmers, a few were for miners of iron in the **Land of Iron**, some for fabric sellers, and a couple were for wood suppliers. If he was going to start those business, he'd need the right stuff. Naruto quickly sent the letters off and rushed back to the apartment to take a quick shower before his first interview. After finishing his shower, Naruto put on black pants and a dark grey sweater. He sat behind his desk and waited of a knock at the door.

"It's open. Please come in." Naruto called out.

The door opened slowly to reveal three stunningly beautiful and scantily clad women, each with a forehead protector. All of them had green eyes, dark blond hair, and had dark skin. The shocking things about these women were their model-like looking bodies and the impressive size of their chests.

The shortest one had long hair tied into three pony tails at the base of her head. She wore typical shinobi shoes, red mini-shorts and had a red sports bra on under a white trench coat. She wore her forehead protector around her neck.

The middle one had her hair tied up into six buns. She wore the same shoes as the other one. She had on a skin tight navy blue china dress that barely ended past her knees. The dress had a window view, showing off an impressive amount of chocolate flesh. She wore her forehead protector on her right upper arm.

The tallest of them was truly a sight to behold. She had long unruly hair going straight down her back. She wore black bell bottom-styled pants. She didn't have a shirt of any kind on, only her forehead protector being used as a thin tube top.

"Are you the landlord?" Asked the tall woman.

"Hai, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, owner and manager of the **Maelstrom**. I presume the three of you are my 4 o'clock?" Naruto asked with a slight blush on his face.

"Yes. I'm Kathy. This is my younger sister, Cami, and my youngest sister, Sara." Kathy replied, pointing to the china dress woman as Cami and the shortest one as Sara. "Me and my sisters are looking for a new apartment, is there room available?" Kathy asked.

"Yes, there's plenty of room available. You're the first I've had come by to inquire about the apartments." Naruto replied. Though the Kathy didn't change her facial fetures, Cami relaxed a little and Sara smiled softly. "Which unit are you looking to have?"

"We're hoping to get a three bedroom apartment, Uzumaki-san." Replied Cami in a slightly gravely voice.

"Would you like to see the three bedroom apartment?" Naruto asked them. The three sisters nodded their heads. Naruto stood up from his desk and escorted the three women down the hall to the stairs and elevators.

"Here at the **Maelstrom** we have it all, for your preferences. We have stairs, elevators, and an empty elevator shaft for ninjas wanting to get to their floor quicker." Naruto explained as he began to walk up the empty shaft. "Each apartment is fully furnished with a queen sized bed in every bedroom, pull-out sofa, love seat, coffee table, dining table with chairs, microwave, 50 inch flat screen TVs, stove, oven, dishwasher, shower stalls and tubs in the bathrooms of the apartments." Naruto continued as he walked up the empty shaft and got out at the 5th floor. He walked over to the nearest apartment and opened the door. "Well, feel free to take a look around ladies."

The three sisters looked around the apartment for a few minutes and talked amongst themselves, before walking back up front to speak with Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, are we allowed to change anything?" Asked Sara.

"Oh, yes you can. You can get different furniture, paint it a different color, and select a different type of floor."

"So far it seems good, but now of the big question. How much does all of this cost?" Asked Kathy.

"Here's a pamphlet with the prices." Naruto said as he handed the folded piece of paper to the tallest of the sisters.

The three women stared at the prices with wide eyes. They looked up at Naruto and said in perfect unison, "We'll take it."

"Perfect, I'll get a contract for you to sign. How soon would the three of you like to be moved in and which floor would you like?" Asked Naruto.

"We'd like an apartment on the 6th floor and to move in a soon as possible." Replied Cami.

"No problem then." Naruto told her as he summoned 20 clones. "Help them move their stuff in," Naruto told his clones. He then turned back to the sisters and said, "When you get back, I'll have the papers and your room keys ready."

The three sisters then left with the clones to gather their things. They returned 25 minutes later with several large boxes and slowly brought them up to the 6th floor. Naruto showed them their new apartment and gave them the paper work to fill out. 15 minutes later, Naruto had his first residents.

'_Well, things are definitely starting to change around here._' Naruto thought to himself as he walked down to his office.

* * *

Meanwhile, many thousands of miles away from Konoha, the winds were blowing around the barren desert. The only sign of life was Suna, the village hidden in the sand. On top of one of Suna's rock walls, sat a young girl with dirty blond hair pulled back into four short ponytails. '_There is a change coming._' She thought t herself as she watched the sunset.

**Next chapter: Chunin Exam**

**Well, there was the third chapter. Boy, that was a long one. I hope you all liked the bloodline stealing ability. I wanted Naruto to have a unique talent and thought that would be the best for his doctor persona. Technically though, it would take a lot more than the amout he used to change his D.N.A. enough to use the bloodlines. But what the hell, this is fiction. Anyway, if anyone can think of some good bloodlines for Naruto, let me know. Next up, Naruto decided to show more of the new him in the open. It's time for some ass kicking folks. I hope you will all review.**


	4. Chunin Exam

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 4: Chunin Exam**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Beta read by SamJaz**

**Be sure to read the author's note at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

Naruto silently sighed to himself. Things in his life were finally going great for him for once. Several more people rented out apartments at the Maelstrom, after the Buster sisters. (**AN: Kathy, Cami, and Sara from chapter 3.**) He had even been able to start up the grocery store, named Oishii, and the bookstore, named Foxy Reads. Both were doing well and his shipment of iron had come in a few days ago, so soon he'd soon be able to start his own weapon shop. He had also started exchanging letters with Roshi and Han. But right now, he was doing the most boring thing ever; He was patrolling.

Ibiki told him he needed to put in some patrolling time. He may be an apprentice, but that didn't excuse him from duty. If he was asked who he was, Naruto was supposed to introduce himself as The Doctor, Sergeant Major of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit. Even though, technically, he wasn't. Naruto would be eventually, but not yet.

* * *

The reason he had been sighing was because patrolling was so boring. There wasn't even a cat stuck in a tree. '_The next time Kakashi-sensei uses that excuse, I'm going to go ballistic._' Naruto thought to himself. At least things weren't too bad. He had been paired up with Big Bear and Little Bear, since Middle Bear was out sick. They were two female ANBUs with bear masks and were well known in the ANBU for being one of the best three man teams. However, the two of them were completely different from one another. Where Little Bear was quiet and deadly accurate, Big Bear was loud and destructive.

Currently, the three of them where on a roof as Big Bear argued with Little Bear about which type of killing blow was better.

"I'm telling you Little, an explosive tag to the base of the neck is the best. It ensures that the target is dead, provides a distraction, and its fun as hell." Big Bear replied with a laugh.

"Big, please-" Little started before a chorus of loud screaming down below grabbed their attention. The three members looked over the edge to see Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi being chased by an enraged Sakura and Ino.

"I got this Big, Little. The brats probably just said something to piss them off." Naruto replied as he grabbed his sword and sheathed it.

"Alright, Doctor. Let us know if you need back up." Big Bear told him just as he was jumping off the roof and heading in the direction he had seen the _Konohamaru Ninja Squad_ run off to.

Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were running for their lives. The incident had all started when they had over heard a pink haired girl talking to a blond haired girl about their Nii-chan, Naruto. The pink girl had called him an idiot and was happy that he wasn't wasting her time by asking her out anymore. The blond had replied saying that Naruto had no tastes, as he had been trying to get the pink haired girls attention instead of her own, not that he would have stood a chance. This made the three of them mad, so the three academy students jumped out of the tree they had been hiding in and in rather loud voices declared that their Naruto-nii-chan wouldn't be caught dead with a billboard brow girl or an anorexic blond bitch. These statements pissed off the two kunoichi, which lead to them chasing down the three academy students.

Konohamaru quickly turned a sharp corner and slammed into something large and hard. He fell back onto the ground as a voice above him said, "That hurt." Udon, Moegi, Sakura, and Ino, who were both, staring at these foreign shinobi. Standing before them was a guy in a black jumpsuit with purple kabuki face paint and a mummy wrapped package on his back. As well as, a tall tanned girl in a lavender battle kimono with dirty blond hair tied back into four short ponytails and had a large fan on her back. The insignia on their forehead protectors indicated that they were from Suna. Slightly behind the two Suna-nins were three more foreign shinobi. One was a guy with light blond hair with dark skin and was carrying long katana at his side. The other two were both female, one as dark skinned as the guy with long red hair and also carrying a long katana at her side. The last female was tall with short blond hair. She was wearing a short black battle kimono and had a cold impassive look on her face. The insignia on their forehead protectors indicated that they were from Kumo. Sakura and Ino, both enviously noted, that the three foreign kunoichi were more endowed than they were, but didn't look much older than them. Judging by the stances of the ninjas, they had just interrupted what looked to be the starting of a brawl.

"Come here, pipsqueak." Growled the boy in the black jumpsuit as he picked up Konohamaru by the scruff of his shirt.

'_Crap. What should I do? There aren't any j__onin__ around._' Sakura thought desperately to herself.

Before anything could happen, a voice from the side yelled out. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Ten pairs of eyes turned to see a short, young looking guy in long black pants, a black shirt under a large black trench coat, and a featureless black mask with only an orange slash over the mask. He had a metal link chain wrapped around his waist a few times as a belt.

"Who the fuck are you?" Asked the guy holding Konohamaru.

Before the guy could reply, Konohamaru yelled out, "Oh crap, it's The Doctor. He's come to operate on me. Please don't operate on me Doctor, I'm not sick." Konohamaru knew that The Doctor was actually Naruto, from having burst into a meeting between him and his grandfather, the Third Hokage. The young boy had been sworn to secrecy and was told he would face sever punishments if he told anyone.

"Konohamaru, who's the Doctor?" Asked Moegi, in frightened voice.

"The Doctor, is the most sadistic interrogator in the ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Unit of Konoha. Rumor is that he got in by ripping a guy's heart and told him he'd get it back if he talked." The young boy replied. This statement caused mixed reactions from everyone. Udon and Moegi became more frightened, Sakura and Ino were creped out, and the foreign-nin looked on in slight disbelief.

"Oh, that's no rumor." The Doctor replied as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an object the size of a large rock. As he held it out to them, everyone could see that it was a heart.

Looking at the heart in the interrogator's hand, the guy dropped Konohamaru to the ground. The academy student quickly ran over to his friends.

"Darn, you let him go. Now I can't operate on you." The Doctor replied as he put the heart away. "However, it looks like I might get to operate on the rest of you. What are you three doing out of class?" He asked the _Konohamaru Ninja Squad_. Not waiting for an answer, he turned to Sakura and Ino and said, "The two of you are to take them to the academy immediately after this is over. Now as for the rest of you, were are your papers?" He asked as he turned around to face the foreign-nin. "If you are unable to provide your papers, then you'll have to face the consequences and I really hope you ladies don't have them."

"Uh, why's that?" Asked the long red haired girl as she searched of her papers. She suddenly saw a shadow over her and looked to see the Doctor standing right in front of her. Before she had time to react, his hand shot forward and oddly grasped her chin gently; his thumb softly rubbing over the front.

"It is said that true beauty is on the inside. So, with three kunoichi as beautiful as you on the outside, I can't help but want to see your inner beauty…" He told her softly, but loudly enough for everyone else to hear it.

Unable to stop herself, the girl blushed as she handed him her papers.

He quickly gathered up the papers form the others. After looking over them for a moment, he handed them back to them while saying, "Welcome to Konoha Kankuro-san, Temari-san, Samui-san, Karui-san, Omoi-san. Please enjoy your stay for the Chunin Exam. Now, why did it seem like the three of you ladies were about to start ripping each other's heads off?"

The boy, now known as Omoi, took the lollipop he had in is mouth out and said, "They were arguing over who had the largest chest." This caused the Leaf kunoichi to remember that they didn't have any and others to glare at Omoi.

The Doctor stared at their chest. "Well, the three of you all have wonderfully large chests, but if you want to know who has the biggest why don't you go shopping?" He suggested. The girls were unsure if this should be a compliment or an insult. Granted, he had called them beautiful, so it was taken as a compliment.

"Just how would shopping help us?" Asked Temari.

"Simple. The three of you go into a clothing store and get your measurements taken for new dresses. When the tailor measures your chest, the girl with the largest measurement wins. Please try not to fight with each other on the street; you may, however, use a guest training field to fight." He explained to him.

Even though it was stupid sounding, the simple logic behind it was sound. Once they were dismissed the three kunoichi walked to the nearest clothing store.

The Doctor then dismissed Sakura and Ino, ordering them to take Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi back to the academy.

The Doctor then left to head back to Big Bear and Little Bear. '_Well, it wasn't much but at least it wasn't boring and those kunoichi were gorgeous._'

* * *

Meanwhile, in the office of the Third Hokage at the Hokage Tower, the jonin sensei's of Konoha's genin teams had assembled before the Third.

"It should be obvious, by the members here, why you've been assembled. It will be properly announced 4 days from now. On the first day of the seventh moon the Chunnin Selection Exam will began. First, we will hear from those teaching the rookies. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. Well, are there any genin that you'd like to nominate for the Chunnin Exam?" The Third asked.

"Kakashi, leader of Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. Under the name of Hatake Kakashi I nominate them to take the Chunnin exam." Kakashi said to the Hokage.

The Third nodded his head as Kakashi stepped back, while a few people murmured. Next, a red-eyed with raven black hair stepped forward.

"Kurenai, leader of Team 8, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai I nominate them to take the Chunnin exam." Kurenai said to the Hokage.

The Third nodded his head as Kurenai stepped back, while more people talked amongst themselves. Next, a tall man with a scraggily beard and a cigarette in his mouth stepped forward.

"Asuma leader of Team 10, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino. Under the name of Sarutobi Asuma I nominate them to take the Chunnin exam." Asuma said to the Hokage.

As Asuma stepped back, the minimal whispering was now up to out right talking. "Hmm… All of the rookies. Very rare indeed." The Third commented to himself.

"Hold on a moment." Cried a voice from the back. Everyone turned to see that Iruka, was the speaker.

"What is it Iruka?" Asked the Hokage.

"I know I may be speaking out of place here, but those nine were students of mine at the academy. They are all very talented, but it's too early for them to take the exam. They need more experience. I can't understand the Jonin's reasoning."

"I became a chunnin when I was six years younger than Naruto." Kakashi interjected.

"Naruto is different from you. Are you trying to crush them? The Chunnin Exam is-" Iruka started to say, he would have continued, but was interrupted by Kakashi.

"They are always complaining about missions. Experiencing some pain may be good for them. Crushing them could be fun…"

"WHAT?" Iruka yelled at him.

"Sorry, Iruka. That was just a joke. I can understand your feelings; it must upset you but stay out of this. They are no longer your students. Right now, they are my soldiers." Kakashi told him, leaving no room for a rebuttal.

Iruka grimaced, but fell back and let the proceedings continue. The three jonin of the rookie teams stepped to the side as the next person stepped forward.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi met with his students and told them that he had nominated them for the Chunnin Exam. He gave them their papers and told them to be at the academy in three days, on the third floor, to take it. As they walked down the street, Naruto looked down at his application and then to his teammates. "So, how are we going to go about taking this exam?" He asked them.

"What are you talking about, Naruto-baka?" replied Sakura wondering what was going through the blond idiots mind.

"What I'm talking about is, we're a rookie team. Most teams wait a year or two before entering. Once word gets out that a rookie team is going to be in the Chunnin Exam, they'll all be aiming to take us out first. So, we need to intimidate the rest of them somehow." Naruto explained.

"Do you have something in mind?" Sasuke asked, remembering Naruto's flare for pranks back at the academy.

"Well, here's what I know, so this is what I've got…" Naruto said as he began to explain his plan to them.

"That's crazy. Naruto," Sakura said when the blond finished.

"So crazy in fact, that it just might work for us," Sasuke countered.

After a few more minutes of talking, the three left for their weekly meal together. After the meal, they each left in a different direction to start implementing Naruto's plan.

* * *

Naruto himself, changed clothes and headed for the ANBU Headquarters to speak to Ibiki. He quickly walked through the hallways, while saying 'hi' and nodding to folks. Once he arrived at his sensei's door, he knocked hard.

"Enter." Came the voice from inside.

Naruto opened the door to find Ibiki sitting at his desk going over some papers.

'_Most likely for the exam._' Naruto thought o his self.

"I take it you've heard Bandana-sensei?" He asked.

"That you've been nominated for the Chunnin Exam? Yes. I have hared about it. Congratulations." Ibiki replied. Looking up from his papers.

"Well, what's your opinion? Do you think I'm ready?" He asked the scarred man.

"I do. But I wonder how this will change you. Everyone has a different experience with the exam. Now, since you've been nominated, you're off duty here until the exam is over." Ibiki told him.

Naruto nodded his head and left. He had a lot to do in the next few days.

**Konoha Academy**

**Day of the Chunin Exam**

Sakura sighed to herself, as she waited for her teammates to arrive. She looked down at her new outfit. Gone was the red dress and shorts she had only days before. Now, she was wearing black shinobi shoes with long black pants. The left knee of the pants had been torn open. She had three kunai holsters on her right thigh and two pouches of supplies on the back of her belt. She wore a short red shirt showing off her stomach. Over her shirt she had a dark red leather trench coat with the white circle her dress had on the back and a hood. Currently, the hood was up over her now braided hair. At the tip of the braids was a mini-kunai. Over her pale green eyes were shades with a matching tint to her iris. Her hands and arms were wrapped in chakra storing bandages.

Sakura leaned back against the tree and looked at the weapon next to her. Naruto had taken his teammates weapons shopping and bought them weapons suiting to their personalities. At first she hadn't liked that she had gotten a war hammer, but after learning about it. She'd thought maybe it wasn't too bad. The entire thing was polished steel. The handle was 5 feet in length, while the hammer was 15 inches thick and a foot and a half long. She found out from the smithy that it was ordinary war hammer, putting a little bit of chakra into it would make the hammer several times lighter and it would lose any of its force when hitting someone. If she turned the war hammer around and summoned chakra to the front of the war hammer, the back would open and fire hundreds of senbon needles at her opponent. If she summoned chakra to the tip of the handle and twisted it, the hammer would split open and a sinister looking scythe would emerge. The war hammer had been named Thor.

"Hey, Sakura!" A voice to the side called, snapping her out of her thinking. She looked over to see Sasuke walking towards her.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." She replied as Sasuke leaned against the tree next to her.

Sasuke's outfit had also changed. He no longer had his white shorts and navy blue shirt on. Instead, he had on long light grey pants and a navy blue high collar tunic. On the tail of the tunic was the Uchiha clan symbol. (**AN: It looks very similar to the tunic of the Sound Four.**) His hands and arms were wrapped in white chakra storing bandages. He had the same number of Kunai holsters and pouches as Sakura and they were in the same place. Over his eyes was a pair of shades with a bright red tint. Tied to his waist on the back was a sword. It was a short sword. When he summoned chakra to the handle, the sword would split, becoming two weapons. Also, the blades could be set ablaze. The blade had been named Laevateinn.

"I see we're all here." A voice in front of them said. The two members of Team 7 looked to see the last member of their team walking towards them.

"About time you showed up Naruto. It's almost time." Sakura said.

Naruto was no longer wearing his black shirt. He still had the same long black pants on. But now, he had on a long black trench coat. The top of the coat was closed with silver buckles and opened around the bottom where his legs were. On the right sleeve was the Mist insignia etched in orange. On the back of he coat was the kanji for Kyuu, also in orange. The sleeves were tight at the shoulders, but widened greatly as they went down. The large hood of the coat was up, covering his blond hair. His face was wrapped like Zabuza's with black chakra storing bandages. He wore shades with a bright orange tint. On his arms were his gauntlets; The Immortals.

"Are we ready?" He asked them. Seeing his teammates nod. Naruto turned around and they headed towards the academy entrance.

"What were you able to find out?" Sasuke asked in a whisper.

"There's a small test first, to separate the participants from the complete idiots. After that, the real tests begin. The first one tests the participant's knowledge. Next is the team's ability to survive. After that is the tournament held a little over a month from now. I don't know how each one is given out though. That information wasn't available to me." Naruto replied as he opened the door to go inside. "Do the two of you remember your lines?" He asked as they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"Yeah and I still can't believe we're going to do this." Sakura replied.

* * *

They had reached the landing to see that a group of genin had crowded around a room. Naruto looked to see that a pair of older looking genin were blocking the door. He watched as Lee tried to get past and was brutally punched to the ground. '_That's not like Lee-kun. He's to fast to get hit by such a slow punch. Plus, it's had as fuck to hit him back, much less to the ground._' Naruto thought as a double-bun haired girl walked forward only to be slugged across her face hard. '_That must be one of Lee-kun's teammates._' He thought while the blockers taunted them.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked his teammates. Naruto and Sakura both nodded. As one, they walked forward, shoulder to shoulder. Naruto would be walking by the genin blocking the door, Sakura in between them, and Sasuke would walk along side the crowd of genin.

As they were almost even to the blockers, the genin with spiky black hair spoke up, calling everyone's attention to them, "Just where do you rejects think you're going?"

"We're going to room 301." Sasuke replied as they stopped and looked at them.

"Yeah? Well, this is room 301 and I say you aren't getting in." The other Genin with a forehead-bandana protector on replied.

"This isn't room 301, this is still the second floor, as we've only climbed one flight of stairs. Also, your genjutsu sucked. An academy student could see through that. We'll be leaving now." Sakura shot back. The three began to walk forward once again. As they became even with the pair, the one with spiky hair shot has hand out only to have it grabbed by the clawed gauntlet left hand of Naruto's.

The genin tried to remove his hand, but Naruto's grip was too strong. "Dude, what the hell? Let go!" The genin yelled out, his hand slowly turning red. Naruto lowered his hand, forcing the genin to his knees. A moment later the mocking genin screamed in pain and the sound of his wrist being crushed filled the hall. Naruto released his hand and let the genin collapse on the ground. After the genin sobbed a few times over his wrist, Naruto drew his leg back and slammed it into the boy's face. He crashed into the wall and was knocked out cold. All three members of Team 7 glared at the remaining genin; daring him to try and stop them. The boy grabbed his partner and disappeared.

"Very foolish standing in our way like that." Naruto said as they started walking again.

They stopped as they saw Rock Lee walking towards them.

"Hey Lee-kun. How's it going?" Naruto asked his sparring partner.

"It's going well, Naruto-kun. But why did you do that?" The green spandex wearing boy asked.

"Oh, that wasn't a genin. That was a chunnin." Naruto replied simply.

Lee nodded his head before turning his head to Sakura and saying, "Hi, my name is Rock Lee. So, you're Sakura… Let's go out together. I'll protect you until I die." Lee flashed her his good-guy pose.

Before Sakura could reply, Naruto replied for her. "She'd love to go out with you Lee. Here some information about her. Her full name is Haruno Sakura. Her hobbies are playing trivia and memorization. She lives on-" Naruto would have continued had he not been bashed on the head by Sakura.

"Shut up, Naruto." She growled out. She then turned to Lee and said, "Sorry, but no." The three continued walking again, after Sasuke had finished his confrontation with the pupil-less white eyed boy on Lee's team.

After a brief fight between Lee and Sasuke, in which Sasuke was about to have his ass handed to him, they saw their sensei standing outside the room. They then learned that the exam can only be taken by teams of three. With praise form their sensei, they stepped forward.

* * *

Shock filled them as they stared out over the crowed of genin. There were shinobi from all over the continent; Suna, Kumo, Oto, Ame, Kusa, and Taki were all being represented. The three of them did there best to control their surprise. They were brought out of their thinking as a voice called out, "Sasuke-kun!! You're late!! I haven't seen you for a while, so I've been waiting in excitement."

The team turned to see Ino of Team 10, glomping Sasuke. "Get off of our teammate, Ino." Sakura said as Sasuke forcibly removed Ino off of himself.

"Well, if it isn't…Sakura?" Ino replied as she took in her rival's new appearance.

"Yeah. What?"

"What's with the outfit?" Asked the platinum blond.

"You didn't expect us to stay the same, did you Ino?" Replied Naruto.

"So, you guys are taking this stupid test too?" Came a voice to the side. Looking over Team 7 saw the remaining members of Team 10 walk towards them, Shikamaru and Choji.

"Well, I see the idiot trio is here." Replied Naruto.

"Don't call us that, Naruto." Shikamaru said as he took careful notice of Team 7's new look.

"Hey, we found you guys!" Yelled a voice, approaching them.

All six rookies glanced over to see the last remaining six rookies walking up to them.

"So, everyone is assembled." Said the gray coat wearing Kiba of Team 8.

"You guys too?" groaned out Shikamaru.

"I see that all nine of this year's rookies are taking the exam. I wonder how far we'll get, eh Sasuke?" asked Kiba.

"You seem confident Kiba." Sasuke replied to the dog user.

"That's cause we did a lot of training, so we won't lose to you."

"I doesn't matter how much training you do. As the weakest team, you won't get far." Sakura told them.

"What did you say?" He yelled back.

"Your team is the weakest. The only member on your squad that actually a threat to anyone is Hinata. Shino is a close second, if he's fighting anyone but me. And you Kiba, are the weakest." Naruto told him.

Hinata blushed at Naruto words, as Shino arched an eyebrow in response to Naruto's words. Kiba, on the other hand, tried to throw a punch at Naruto's face. He was quickly stopped as he felt two blades press against his neck and saw a shadow over his head. Naruto had the right handed blade of the Immortal out, as Sasuke had Laevateinn unsheathed. Both blades resting on Kiba's jugular, and Sakura had Thor hoisted in the air, read to smash him.

"Hey, you guys should be a little quieter." Came an older sounding voice. All 9 of the rookies looked to see an older, silver haired boy. The boy introduced himself as Kabuto. He told them to stop being so loud or it might cause a scene, as everyone was already on a short fuse. They learned that it was his 7th time to take the exam and, as a result, he had a lot of information about the exam in his info-nin cards. He decided to share some info with them as they were rookies. He brought up a graph, showing them where each participant was from and how many there were taking the exam. Sasuke asked if he had info on individuals. Kabuto said if he had a name he should have it. Sasuke asked for info on Lee and some guy name Gaara.

Lee, Naruto already knew about. But this Gaara guy was something else. With so many strong opponents taking the exam, some of the rookies began to lose confidence. '_Well, now is as good a time as any._' Naruto thought to himself as he stepped forward. "Sakura, Sasuke who shall we kill first?" He asked in a loud voice, catching everyone's attention.

Sasuke smirked slightly and pointed to a team from the Hidden Rain. Sakura rolled her eyes as she pointed to the Hidden Sound team. "Let's kill them." They replied in unison. They then began to argue slightly over who to kill first, until Naruto intervened.

"Guys, we'll kill both of them in the second exam." He told his teammates. This caused almost everyone in the room to shudder.

Not everyone was taking Team 7's words so lightly. "So, he thinks they can kill us?" Asked a tall boy with spiky black hair.

"Let's play with them for a little bit." Replied his long black haired teammate.

"Good idea. He'll learn that Sound shinobi can be quite deadly." Said the bandaged face boy in front of them.

The three shinobi ran forward towards Naruto. The spiky haired boy and the girl with long hair jumped into the air and threw a few kunai at Naruto. Naruto batted the kunai away with his gauntlet. He was then taken by surprise as the last member of the Sound team appeared in front of him and made a swipe at his head. Naruto stepped back in time, to avoid being hit. However, a second later his vision went haywire. Naruto summoned chakra to his feet to keep him up right, as he forced the bile back down into his stomach.

"You may want to improve before you make a declaration on killing someone." The bandaged face Sound shinobi told him.

Before Naruto could reply, a very familiar voice yelled out from the front of the room as it poofed into existence. "QUIET DOWN YOU WORTHLESS BASTARDS!!!"

There standing at the front of the room was Ibiki. '_Ibiki? …Oh, shit._' Naruto thought to himself.

* * *

Ibiki explained that they would be taking the first part of the exam in the room. He told them to take a number and then sit at that assigned seat. Naruto sulked as he realized it was a paper test. The kind he was the worst with.

Ibiki calmly explained the rules, after which, Naruto could feel his teammates staring holes into his back. Once the exam started, Naruto looked at his test paper and cringed at the first question. '_There's no way anyone can answer any of these._' Naruto thought to himself, slowly starting to panic.

Naruto calmed himself down and took a better look at the questions. '_Hmm, these are high level questions. Most of which I don't know and I doubt most of the people in here do know. So, I'll answer in my own way._' Thought the blond as he began to scribble down answers. Three minutes later, he put his pencil down and flipped his test over. Naruto leaned back and propped his feet on the desk as he relaxed his head.

Several of the examiners, including Ibiki, saw this. '_What is he doing? There's no way that Naruto could have finished so quickly._' Ibiki thought. He'd be the first to admit that his apprentice had grown a lot in the past 5 months, but he still had a ways to go. A couple of minutes later, everyone stopped as a sound unlike any other filled the room.

* * *

Naruto was snoring, rather loudly too.

'_That idiot is sleeping? This is far too troublesome._' Thought Shikamaru.

'_He calls me weak, yet he's to dumb to stay awake.'_ Thought Kiba as his dog, Akamaru, gave him another answer.

Hinata was blushing as the boy of her dreams was sleeping next to her.

'_This guy is worse than, Killer Bee-sensei._' Thought a golden-eyed, red-haired, kunoichi of Cloud thought to herself.

'_Surely__…__ Naruto's not really stupid enough to be asleep__?_' Sakura thought, praying to Kami that teammate wasn't stupid enough to fall asleep during a major test. She was disappointed however, when Naruto spoke.

"No… Please…" Naruto mumbled. "I couldn't eat another bite. Well…, Okay…" Naruto smiled, sleeping. "But only because you're such a cute bowl of ramen."

Sakura banged her forehead onto the table. '_He actually is that stupid…_'

* * *

When Naruto woke up, The hour was almost over. Ibiki told them that it was time for the tenth question. If they failed this question, they would remain genin forever. Several people began to leave, not wanting to fail.

Naruto came face to face with a dilemma, he could stay and answer and if he failed to answer correctly, he'd stay a genin. Naruto slammed his hand down on the desk and declared in a loud voice that even if he stayed a genin, he'd still become Hokage. Seeing that no one was leaving after Naruto's speech, Ibiki then smirked as he congratulated the remaining genin on passing the first part of the exam. Naruto eyes bulged as Ibiki explained the reasoning of the test to a busty Suna kunoichi. '_I can't believe that jerk. Well, at least it'll be easier now._' Naruto thought to himself. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard as a figure busted through the glass. '_Never mind. This just got worse._' Naruto thought, knowing that there was only one person in all of Konoha dumb enough to interrupt Ibiki's speech like this, and he knew who it was.

"All right you worms! I'm Mitarashi Anko, the second examiner for the Chunnin Exam! Now, let's go!" Anko yelled out in a loud voice. She then took notice of how many had passed and brought this to Ibiki's attention. She declared that once the second test was over, the numbers would be less than half. This statement had a few on edge again as they followed her out of the room to the second part of the exam.

After about 45 minutes of walking, the genin found that they had been lead to a thickly forested area, surrounded by a high metal chain link fence. The trunks of the trees were thick, thicker than any other tree in all of Konoha. Many of the trees trunks were almost as thick as base of the Hokage Tower '_Please tell me we aren't where I think we are._' Naruto thought as he stared into the foreboding forest.

"Welcome to the stage for the second exam. This is Training Ground 44; Otherwise known as 'The Forest of Death'." Anko announced happily. In fact, a little to happy.

* * *

'_Shit, shit, shit._' Naruto repeated over and over again in his mind. He had heard a couple of ANBU talking about this training ground.

Training Ground 44 was a jonin level training ground. In fact, it had been reported more that once that a careless jonin had gotten seriously injured by the forest. Inside were untold horrors as certain animals lived in the forest that lived no where else: Man-eating centipedes, giant tigers, acid spewing plants, and more.

Kiba had made the mistake of mocking Anko while she was telling them the name and got a kunai thrown at his cheek. The blade barely grazed him, but it was enough to leave a faint cut. Anko had then moved right behind him, with another kunai pressed against his neck. However, she quickly spun around to see a presence behind her. A tall Kusa-nin was standing right behind her with her thrown kunai in his tongue, to return it to her.

Anko then explained the test to them. Telling them that half would get a '_Heaven_' scroll and the other half would get an '_Earth_' scroll. She told them that a team would need all of its members alive and have both scrolls to continue, informing them that they would have to engage each other in battle if they wished to pass the second exam. They then had to sign release forms, as killing was part of the exam.

* * *

After all the members of Team 7 signed the release, they went to turn their forms in and get their scroll. They were given a heaven scroll and assigned to gate 12. "As soon as the gates open, we run for it." Naruto said.

"Why?" Asked Sakura.

"Simple, we're a rookie team, so everyone's going to be aiming for us, thinking that we're easy to take on. Plus, that little show at the start probably didn't help our chances." Sasuke told her.

Minutes later, the air horn sounded, indicating the start of the second exam. The Jonin thrust the gate open and before he had reached to close it, Team 7 was already hidden by the thick forest.

* * *

As they ran, Naruto summoned 15 clones and had 5 henge into perfect copies of Sasuke and another 5 into perfect copies of Sakura. For the next few hours, everything was going fine; Sasuke had recommended that they set a trap close to the tower. Since Naruto and Sakura had no problem with it, they agreed to it. Now, they just had to get there before anyone else. Suddenly, Naruto snapped to attention. "EVERYONE, ON THE GROUND NOW!!" He yelled out.

When they landed, Sasuke turned to him and said, "What's the problem dobe?"

"We've got trouble up ahead. All of my clones were just expelled." Naruto told him.

"So?" Sakura said, not seeing the significance of the situation.

"By something attacking them from behind and at the same time." Naruto explained to her. "There's someone powerful up ahead."

"If we get separated then the enemy might try to disguise themselves as one of us. We should have a codeword." Sasuke said. "So that way, if the enemy gets it wrong, we'll know it's not one of us."

"What do you have in mind?" Naruto asked him.

"I'll only say it once so listen carefully." Sasuke leaned forwards. "We will ask for the nin song '_Nin Machine_'. When asked, we answer with this, '_A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the shinobi, hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time, when the enemy is tired and ill prepared._' That's it." Sasuke said, giving them their codeword.

Sakura nodded her head having memorized it. Naruto, on the other hand, not so much. '_Man, why did it have to be one of those old sayings? I suck at remembering them._' Naruto thought as he began to stand up from their sitting place on the ground, none of them ever acknowledging an odd reed sticking out of the ground.

As he was standing up, he felt something brush against his cheek. Naruto swiped a hand at his cheek and saw that his was bleeding from a cut. Suddenly, out of nowhere came a massive wind blast from behind them. Unable to summon his chakra in time to stick to the ground, Naruto was sent flying. '_Well, this is going to suck._' Naruto thought to himself, soon after he hit something hard and blacked out.

* * *

Sasuke had hidden under a group of bushes as the wind died down. He had been separated from Sakura and Naruto during the gust. Carefully, he backed up out of the bushes. "Sasuke-kun," He heard '_Sakura's_' voice behind him say. He spun around to face her with a kunai in hand.

"Stay away. What's the codeword? Nin song 'Nin Machine'?" Sasuke asked the pink haired shinobi.

"A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the shinobi, hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time, when the enemy is tired and ill prepared." Sakura replied, giving Sasuke the codeword.

Sasuke lowered his kunai, now sure that it was Sakura. However, it was soon brought back up as the bushes to the side began to rustle. Out of the bushes walked Naruto. "Are you guys alright?" Naruto asked them.

"Naruto, what's the codeword?" Sakura asked.

"A large amount of loud enemies is the friend of the shinobi, hide and remain silent. A shinobi must understand the proper time, when the enemy is tired and ill prepared." Naruto replied quickly.

Sasuke smirked slightly and then threw his kunai hard at Naruto's chest.

"SASUKE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? IT'S NARUTO." Sakura yelled out.

"The real Naruto wouldn't be able to remember a song that long. The real one would have said, '_Sorry, I forgot the stupid codeword_'." Sasuke told her.

The fake Naruto gave a sinister grin before poofing out of existence. "Impressive. How did you know there would be a fake?" The voice from inside the smoke of the cancelled henge asked.

"I knew you were listening from underground. There's no way Naruto could have remembered a codeword like that, so I knew you had to be a fake." Sasuke replied as the smoke cleared enough to show their attacker. It was the Kusa-nin from earlier.

"Well, this is going to be a lot of fun." The Grass-nin stated. "You want my '_Earth Scroll_' right? Since you guys have the '_Heaven Scroll_'." The Grass-nin asked. The ninja then opened his mouth and shoved the scroll down his throat. After swallowing the scroll completely the Grass-nin's head was looking down at the ground. "Let's begin the battle for each other's scroll, with our lives on the line." He said as he turned his gaze towards them.

Death surrounded them; it was gripping them so tightly that it was impossible to breath. Their bodies had been chewed upon and then were spat back out. Blood poured from everywhere, caking them like a warm gel. Neither could move as a kunai flew from the darkness and embedded itself deep into their foreheads. Then suddenly, it was all over. There were no mangled bodies, blood, or kunai in the forehead. But the feeling was still there.

'_What was that? Was that a genjutsu?_' Sasuke asked himself, before his collapsed onto his hands and threw up. '_No that was just fear. The killing intent in his eyes made us see death. Who the hell is this guy?_'

Sasuke looked over to see Sakura shaking in fear, unable to move. The ninja then took out a kunai and threw it hard at Sakura. Sasuke stabbed himself in the thigh to overcome the fear and push Sakura out of the way.

They tried to run, but were soon found by a snake. The snake got between them and forced the apart. As they went in different directions, the snake chose to go after Sasuke. Sasuke launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken at its head, killing it. However, they watched in horror as the Grass-nin emerged from the snakes body, telling them prey should always be trying to escape.

Sasuke realized that he was too strong for them to face, so he tried to barter their escape by giving the grass-nin their scroll. Sasuke watched in shock as the grass shinobi destroyed their scroll. The mysterious shinobi then summoned a very large snake and ordered it to kill Sasuke. As the snake launched forward, Sakura jumped in the way and slammed Thor down on to the snake's head. In retaliation, the shinobi threw a punch at Sakura's war hammer as she was raising it up for a second strike.

The force of the blow destroyed the hammer and sent Sakura flying backwards. Seeing Sakura jump in like that forced Sasuke to think about his own cowardliness. His brother told him to cling to life. Sasuke then opened his eyes and had his Sharingan blazing. For a while he seemed to be doing well. Especially when he hit the Grass-nin with a Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu.

However, the shinobi seemed to be fine as he walked out of the fire. Sure, the face was slightly melted, but that wasn't stopping him. The nin told Sasuke that his name was Orochimaru and if he wanted to see him again, he had to survive the exam. Sakura, who had climbed back, wanted to know why they'd ever want to see him again. Without saying anything, Orochimaru's head shot forward and he bit down on Sasuke's neck.

"Sasuke-kun will seek me… To seek power…" Orochimaru said as he began to sink into the tree branch. Sasuke began to scream in pain as a strange mark appeared on his neck. All too soon, he passed out.

Sakura went over to grab Sasuke and began to run. With one team member missing and the other down, they were sitting ducks. '_Naruto were are you?_' She thought desperately to herself.

**Konoha**

**Training Ground 44**

**Chunin Exam, Second Test**

**A few minutes earlier**

Naruto groaned slightly as he slowly opened his eyes, having regained consciousness. Looking through bleary eyes and orange tinted shades, Naruto was able to figure that he was on the ground and upside down. "Sasuke? Sakura?" He called out as he righted himself up. At this point, he noticed that a large shadow had fallen over him. He turned his gaze to the source of the shadow and his eyes widened at the sight of a large snake. A very large snake that was casting a shadow over him. '_Oh, crap,_' Naruto thought to himself as he jumped out of the way when the snake tried to strike.

He had seen several of Anko's snakes and this one didn't look anything like any of them. '_Is this snake native to the forest?_' He thought to himself, never taking notice of its tail, until it was too late. Naruto grunted in defiance as the tail wrapped around him harder. His arms were pinned to his side, so the Immortals were useless. Naruto's eyes widened as the mouth of the snake appeared before him and tossed him in, closing its mouth before he could get out, and swallowing him.

**Konoha**

**Just outside of Training Ground 44**

**Chunin Exam, Second Test**

Tokubetsu Jonin Anko was peacefully relaxing atop the chain link fence of Training Ground 44 when one of the guards of the exam came and told her that they had found some bodies. As she looked at the bodies, she knew only one person who could and would want to melt the face off of someone. '_So, he's here. But why now?_' She thought to herself.

Anko turned to one of the guards and said, "Get ANBU captains in The Forest of Death now." Anko then Shunshined away, back to Training Ground 44 and jumped over the fence. Anko quickly summoned chakra to her legs as she ran. '_I may not be able to stop him, but I can at least slow him down._' She thought to herself.

**Konoha**

**Inside giant snake's stomach**

'_Well, isn't this just a bowl of miso ramen._' Naruto thought to himself as he stabbed the lining of the snake's throat once more. No matter how many times he stabbed, he couldn't get a wound. Naruto then started to go through his options and an idea came to mind.

"Kage Bunshin!" He yelled out. Soon the snake was filled with a horde of shadow clones. Unable to hold in so many bodies, the snake soon burst open; its head separating completely from its body. "I plan to become Hokage." Naruto stated. "You didn't think I'd let something like being eaten stop me!?" Naruto asked the dead snake as he dispelled his clones. Naruto walked up to the mouth of the snake and blinked a jar into his hand. Very carefully, he then began to force venom out of the fang and into the jar. Once the jar was nearly full, Naruto screwed the lid on and blinked it back to his storage dimension. Next, he blinked a large empty syringe and collected a full amount of blood from the snake. The venom and blood would prove useful in later studies.

Naruto then took a deep breath through the nose and smelled himself in the process. '_Kami, do I reek. I need to find a river quickly to wish this off or I'm going to have ninjas tracking me by my scent._' Naruto thought to himself.

After a few minutes of running through trees Naruto came across a deep, peaceful flowing, babbling stream. He carefully took off his clothes and ran them through the water to deaden the scent. '_Well, since I'm here I may as well enjoy it. Besides, no one's around to see me._' Naruto reasoned. He then took off his boxers, hid his clothes under a bush, and jumped into the stream.

**Konoha**

**Training Ground 44**

**Chunin Exam, Second Test**

**Suna Team**

Temari, the dirty blond haired, busty, first child of the Yondaime Kazekage, sighed to herself. "Gaara, I need to be alone for a while." She told her younger, red haired, demon holding brother.

Gaara slowly turned to face her. "Why?" He asked in a low gravely tone.

'_Well gee__, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm covered in blood from your little hobby!?__'_ She thought to herself, wanting to say it aloud. However, she simply replied saying, "It's a woman thing, Gaara. But how about this? If I'm not back in two and a half hours, you can kill Kankuro."

"WHAT??" Her black jumpsuit wearing, younger brother cried out.

"See you guys in a couple of hours." Temari called over her shoulder as she bounded away.

After a few minutes of running, she found a perfect stream to use. Unfortunately, someone else was using it. '_Who the hell is that?_' She asked herself. Temari couldn't recall seeing a Genin with such blonde hair and whisker like marks on his face. '_Well, who ever he is, he's cute. He looks slightly younger then me, but with my dating life, I'd take him._' She thought to herself. Thanks to being the Kazekage's daughter, Gaara's sister, and the strongest genin kunoichi in Suna, guys tended to fear her and stayed away from her. So, Temari had a lot of sexual frustration built up.

Very carefully, Temari set her fan to the side and opened her battle kimono, just enough to expose her large chest and stomach. She moved her left hand up under her fishnet shirt and began to softly knead her breasts. She could feel her panties getting wetter and wetter with each passing moment. Temari moved her right hand under the bottom half of her battle kimono and pushed it to the side as she slid her middle finger into her slit. As she began to rub her g-spot, she started to pinch her small, dark brown nipples. After a few moments of intense rubbing and abusing her breasts, Temari came shooting out her love juice. She forced her jaw to stay close to prevent herself from yelling out in pleasure. She saw that the blond haired boy was still there, however a sudden rustle from some nearby bushes grabbed their attention. The boy had apparently decided not to hang around, as he was then gone in a flash.

Temari however had decided to stay for a moment and saw a brown rabbit emerge from the bushes. '_Well, I guess the stream is free now._' She thought to herself, while lightly chuckling. With that, she stood up, grabbed her fan and jumped toward the stream. After all, no one was around.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karui, a dark brown skinned genin kunoichi from Kumo with long red hair and a busty chest, was running through the trees trying to find a genin team for her own team to challenge for their scroll. She stopped suddenly as she heard what she thought was splashing. Quickly running towards the noise, she soon stopped as she saw that there was someone in the stream.

'_Who the hell is that?_' She mentally asked herself. The only one that she had seen with blond hair had been some Konoha fan-girl kunoichi. '_Well, he looks good. It'd be nice to have him as a boyfriend, if he has a good personality._' Karui thought slightly lecherously to herself, as she watched a few droplets of water fall off of his golden blond hair, landing on his strong chest and flowing down his chiselled abs, before coming into contact with the stream.

Karui noticed that she was drooling at the sight and quickly wiped the excessive saliva away. Seeing that no one was around, she took off her sword and lifted up her dark red tank top shirt. She began to roughly knead her large breasts, while every once in a while dragging a fingernail over the areolae of her black nipples. All too soon, she had removed her black skirt and let it fall onto the branch. She had squatted down and thrusted her middle and ring finger into her flowing wet pussy. Within minutes she let out a silent scream of pleasure as she came, squirting as she did so.

Karui noticed that the boy was still in the stream, but suddenly the sound of a bush rustling from up the bank of the stream had grabbed their attention. The mysterious genin had apparently decided to run for it, as he was gone in a poof of smoke. She then saw that a rabbit had hopped out from the rusting bushes. She looked down at herself and decided to use the stream to clean herself, before meeting up with her team. She stood up, grabbed her skirt and sword and jumped towards the river. Karui didn't bother to cover herself since no one was around.

* * *

A mile or so away, Sakura had just finished putting the last touch on a series of traps surrounding her and an unconscious Sasuke when she heard a loud scream. '_What the hell is up with this forest?_' She thought to herself, as she grabbed a kunai.

Temari and Karui both covered themselves as best they could. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" They yelled at each other in perfect unison. Both of them then, got bright blushes on their faces.

"I take it you were watching that guy?" Temari asked the older girl.

"Yeah, I was. It seems you were too." Karui replied.

Temari nodded her head. She then took a closer look at the girl and said, "You're that Kumo kunoichi from the other day." Temari thought back to a few days before when she had first met the girl and then that strange encounter with that Doctor guy. Granted, his advice did help. She wound up with the second largest chest, having been unable to beat that pale blond haired kunoichi also from Kumo.

"Oh yeah, you're her. Temari, right?"

"Yes. I believe you were called, Karui?"

"Yeah. So, what do we do about this now, Temari?" Karui asked the Suna kunoichi.

"Well, I came here to clean off some blood stains; while my team continues on to the tower with our scrolls. I'm guessing you don't have your team's scroll with you."

"No, I don't. I was sent out to look for a team to challenge for their scroll. After seeing that guy, I decided to relieve some stress. Upon seeing myself after my moment of pleasure," Karui explained with a smile. "I thought it would be best if I cleaned up. Since you don't have a scroll, it would be pointless to fight you." Karui replied. She then thought for a moment before saying, "I guess we call a truce?"

"Okay." Temari replied.

The two kunoichi then began to bathe in the stream. As they bathed they got to know one another and found that they weren't so different from one another. When they had finished, the two girls had formed a small bond of friendship.

"See you around, Karui." Temari said before bounding off, to the tower to meet her team.

"Same to you, Temari," Karui replied heading towards her team's camp.

A few minutes later, Karui landed in her team's campsite to find both Samui and Omoi knocked unconscious. She looked to see that Omoi had their scroll opened on his lap. '_That idiot, I knew it was a bad idea to give him the scroll. He never-_' Before she could finish her mental rant, Karui was knocked out from behind.

* * *

Several hours later, night had finally fallen and Naruto was pissed. '_Where the hell are all of these guys coming from?_' Naruto mentally asked himself. Ever since running from that stream and hurriedly putting his clothes back on, teams seemed to be appearing from everywhere. So far, five teams had fought him and he had beaten all five. Two of the teams he killed, two he was able to knock unconscious, and one that he killed only one member before the others had surrendered. He was able to gain three Heaven scrolls and two Earth scrolls, among other things, from these encounters. The claws of the Immortals had become caked in blood. Naruto's jacket as well as his pants had gotten blood spots on them, but he didn't stop to clean them.

As he was bounding through the trees, Naruto heard some loud growling coming from below him. Looking down he saw that three large tigers had cornered Anko. '_Something's wrong. Anko would never let herself get cornered. Why is she clutching at her neck?_' Naruto thought to himself. At that moment, the center tiger had tensed its muscles and began then sprang forward to kill Anko. Naruto grabbed the tree branch and launched himself down at the tiger to intercept him. While falling, Naruto blinked Kubikiri into his hands and swung it down hard, driving it through the tiger's skull.

Anko look on in surprise. '_Damn, can't believe I had to be saved by the brat._' She thought to herself.

"Are you alright, Anko-san?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, but I need to get to the tower. We have an emergency." She replied.

At this time the other two tigers had gotten over seeing their partner killed by the small morsel in front of them and decided to strike at the blond. However, both of them found that they were unable to move. '_Looks like Kanashibari no Jutsu was used._' Anko thought to herself as both she and Naruto looked up into the trees to see two ANBU standing above them, one in a cat mask the other in a bird mask.

"You know, for ANBU, you guys sure are slow." Naruto told them.

"Oh don't say that, Naruto-kun." The bird masked ANBU replied.

"What's the problem, Anko-san?" asked the cat masked ANBU.

"Orochimaru is here at the exam." She replied.

This caused both of the ANBU to tense. Naruto, however didn't as he didn't know who this Orochimaru person was.

"We have to get you to the Hokage Tower then." The bird masked ANBU said.

"No, we need to go to the tower." Anko told them. She then turned to face Naruto and said, "Naruto, find your team and get to the tower."

Naruto nodded his head and took off, it was nearly daybreak and he prayed he could find them. He didn't know who this Orochimaru person was, but he sounded bad. '_Looks like I have some investigating to do._' Naruto thought to himself.

* * *

A few hours later, Naruto found his team. It turned out that they had been in a fight with a single mysterious Grass-nin and the Sound trio. Luckily Rock Lee and Team 10 came to help. Sasuke had awoken with strange black markings on his left arm and the left side of his face. Soon after, Team 10 and Team Gai left, leaving Team 7 all to themselves.

"Sasuke, can you move?" Naruto asked his teammate.

"No. I'm too tired to move." Sasuke replied from his sitting position on the floor.

"Then I'll carry you." Naruto replied. He then quickly made a clone and grabbed both Sasuke and Sakura. As he ran as fast as he could through the forest, Sakura kept screaming. A few hours later, they had arrived at the tower. The clone put Sakura down and walked over to the real Naruto to help Sasuke walk through the door.

"Naruto-baka! if you would have listened to me, you would have heard me tell you that we only have an Earth scroll! We can't enter the tower yet!." Sakura yelled at her teammate.

"Actually, we can."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked him.

Naruto reached behind himself and pulled out five bloody scrolls, three Heaven and two Earth.

"Naruto? Why do they have blood on them?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, some of the other teams really didn't want to give their scrolls up, so I had to convince them otherwise." Naruto replied.

**Flashback no Jutsu**

**Yesterday afternoon**

_Naruto ran through the forest as fast as he could. Moments ago, he had heard a horrifying shriek come from the stream he had just left. This forest was getting more and more dangerous. As he bounded through the trees, Naruto was stopped suddenly as something whizzed by his face and made a hard thunk-like noise into the tree. While turning his head to face it, an odd hissing noise started. Naruto was greeted with the sight of a kunai with three exploding tags about to go off. '_Oh, crap._' Naruto thought to himself as he jumped away. However, he didn't jump fast enough and was caught in the blast. The force of the explosion had sent him head first into another three. Naruto smashed into it hard and tumbled down to the forest floor._

"_Looks like, we got the little Leaf-nin." Naruto heard a voice above him say. He felt the sound of three pairs of feet landing. As he groggily got to his knees, Naruto saw that there were three Taki-nins in front of him. All three of them were male. The one in the middle was short and bald. To his left, was a tall shinobi with long flowing blue hair. The final shinobi was average in size. He had tanned skin and short black hair._

"_Who the hell are you guys?" Naruto asked them._

"_We are from the Hidden Waterfall village and we're here to take your scroll." The bald shinobi replied._

"_Yeah? Well sorry, but I don't have the scroll." Naruto shot back._

"_Then it's sorry for you," the shinobi with black hair said, "If we kill you, it will at least stop your team from passing." With that the Taki-nins jumped into action._

_The bald shinobi ran directly at Naruto, while his teammates jumped high into the air above and began to throw a volley of kunai and shuriken down at him. As Naruto tried to deflect most of the objects and dodge the rest, he was taken by surprise from the bald shinobi and was brutally hit in the stomach. Naruto was slammed hard into the tree and spat out a small amount of blood. '_Damn it, I don't have time for this. I need to finish this quickly._' Naruto thought to himself. As he looked forward, he saw that the bald headed shinobi had unsheathed a sword and was swinging it right at Naruto's neck. He quickly raised his left arm up and summoned chakra into the left Immortal to form the shield. Naruto lifted up his right arm and summoned the blade for the right Immortal._ _The ninja was unprepared and was taking by surprise as the blade went through his heart._

_The two Waterfall-nins looked on in shock as their teammate slumped over, dead. "You'll pay for that." __Growled__ the tall blue haired shinobi. The nin took in a deep breath of air and let out a scream. It wasn't an ordinary scream, as it had Naruto gripping his ears; trying to keep the sonic volume out. After a few moments, the pain to his ears stopped, but Naruto was struggling to stay on his feet as the sonic blast had caused him to become unbalanced._

_Before he could defend himself, the sonic torture started again. But this time, it was different. A few seconds into the pain and Naruto felt the sharpened steel of a kunai lodge itself in his throat. Suddenly, the sonic torture was over and Naruto's head slowly lowered down to he ground. Letting his eyes gaze at the sight before him. He __saw__the smirking face of the blue haired shinobi, who had been putting him under the mind numbing pain, and the smiling face of the tanned ninja, whose arm was stretched out; indicating that he had been the one to throw the weapon. Naruto collapsed in a heap on the ground, as his blood began to slowly pool around him._

'**Pull the blade out you weakling.**_' Screamed the voice of Kyuubi from with in him._

'If I do…, won't that just… kill me faster?_' Naruto asked in gasping thought._

'**Not if you use my chakra to heal yourself, ****idiot****.**_' The demon told him._

_So, as the two Taki-nin laughed over an easy kill, neither of them noticed the slowly increasing feel of a blood thirst, presence, or saw Naruto slowly pull the knife out of his throat. As they began to walk away, the two shinobi began to feel __the__ intense presence. A presence that they had felt back home in the Hidden Waterfall Village, but shouldn't be __feeling__ here. After all, she didn't come with them to the exams._

_A gargled, "Ahem," was heard behind them, the behind them where two dead nin should be. Slowly, they turned around to see the last of what should have been a fatal wound on the blond Leaf-nin's neck heal. "Son of a bitch... He's just like the 7-tailed demon whore, back home." The blue haired nin yelled out. This statement intrigued Naruto, but he only need one of them alive to tell him about this demon._

_Naruto ran as fast as he could at them and just as the blue haired shinobi was taking in a breath of air for more sonic torture, Naruto swung hard with the claws of his right armed Immortal, ripping out his throat effectively. The tanned-nin stared on dumbly as his teammates blood splashed onto his face. He was completely taken by surprise as Naruto slammed him hard into the ground._

"_**Well, **__looks like __**it's just you **__and __**me. Now, **__tell me __**about this **__7-tailed demon that you __**know of**__." Naruto told him as he stood on the shinobi's arms and sat down on his chest. All the while, the blade from the right Immortal was pointing at his throat._

"_W-why would I-I do t-that?" The nin asked._

"_Tell __**me, **__what assurances __**do you **__have that__** you'll make it **__out alive? Give __**me the **__information that __**I seek **__and I'll have a reason __**not to kill you.**__" Naruto explained._

"_H-her name is F-Fu. She is the j-jinchuriki for the 7-tailed Horned Beetle, Nanabi." The nin replied in a quivering voice._

"_**Thanks.**__" Naruto replied, before shoving the blade into his throat. "Oh, I'm not killing you. __**The hole in your throat is.**__"_

'Now, time to search them for their scroll._' Naruto thought to himself as he began to search among the bodies. After a few moments, he found their Earth scroll with the blue haired shinobi. '_Hmm, I wonder…_' Naruto thought to himself as he tore open the guy's shirt and summoned chakra into his hand, concentrating as he did so. '_I thought so. That sonic attack was a bloodline._' Naruto began to focus and started to gather a small pool of the shinobi's D.N.A. into his chakra bowl. Soon it was enough and Naruto blinked a syringe into his free hand. After filling the barrel of the syringe up, Naruto injected himself in his left calf muscle. Once the pain was over, he picked up the scroll, blinked the extra supplies to his dimension and began to go on his way._

**End Flashback no Jutsu**

Sasuke arched an eyebrow at what Naruto was indicating to them; while Sakura just stared on in shock.

'_This can't be the same Naruto-baka from the academy. He's supposed to an idiot._' Sakura thought to herself.

'_So, Naruto's grown strong enough to kill._' Sasuke thought as Team 7 walked into the tower.

* * *

After seeing the message on the wall, Sakura and Naruto opened the Earth and Heaven scrolls and were greeted by the sight of their old academy instructor, Iruka. He explained what the message meant and congratulated them on passing the second exam. Iruka told them that they had three days to relax and train before the second exam ended. They were informed that they were the third team to arrive. They went upstairs to the bunk rooms and were told that they had access to the medical station, the kitchen, the library, and the training grounds. Anything beyond that was off limits.

They soon found their sensei, Kakashi and explained what had happened in the Forest of Death. He told them he'd get Sasuke checked out and proceeded to take the young Uchiha to get looked at. Naruto headed to the kitchen to get something to eat, while Sakura began to wonder about her future as a kunoichi.

* * *

After being the first team to the tower and spending a peaceful night sleeping, Temari found herself getting hungry and went to the kitchen to cook herself something. Now, Temari wasn't the best cook in the world, but she had taught herself enough to make a meal. So, a few minutes later she was sitting down with a nicely filled bowl of fried rice with egg. She always made a bit more than she intended, so Temari left the remainder on the counter top in a bowl with a note saying that anyone who wanted it could have it. After taking a few bites, the door opened to reveal a short looking figure. By the way the person walked, Temari assumed it was a male. He was shorter that she was, wore black shoes, pants, and a large black trench coat with the hood covering his hair as he also had his mouth wrapped in black bandages. Taking note of the orange kanji for 9 on the back of his coat, Temari realized that it was the genin that had gone to sleep in the first test and then when the tenth question was asked had challenged the examiner. It was hard to tell if he was an idiot or insane, or, much less likely, a genius of some kind.

She watched as he went over the cabinets and took out a packet of instant ramen and began to heat up the water for it. As he waited, the shinobi took notice of her bowl and offer. He carefully picked up the bowl and summoned chakra into his hands.

'_Hmm, analyzing it for poisons, smart,_' Temari thought to herself. He may be an idiot, but he had something going for him. As the water slowly began to heat, he began to eat the fried rice. When he had finished the fried rice, he poured the water into the bowl with the instant ramen. The hooded shinobi took his bowl and sat at the table in front of her, facing her. She began to slowly eat her food once again, trying to not let on that she was watching him.

The shinobi quickly finished his ramen and put his bowl in the sink. As he opened the door, he turned his head slightly back to her and said, "Thank-you for the fried rice, Suna-chan." He quickly shut the door and his footsteps were heard leaving.

Temari had a slight blush on her face, before she quickly squished it. "Who the hell does that guy think he is, saying that?" She asked herself in an annoyed tone. Oh well, he seemed nice and so did that mysterious blond from the stream. Unfortunately, with what was to come it would be highly unlikely that she'd ever see either of them again.

Naruto went to send letters to Roshi, Han, and, now, Fu.

* * *

A few hours later, Kakashi returned to speak with Naruto and Sakura; telling them that Sasuke would be asleep until tomorrow due to the injuries he had and was sleeping them off. Over the next few three days, four more teams arrived. The time for the second exam was soon over and the genin were informed that they would be having preliminary matches for the third test, as there were too many genin.

As the Hokage was speaking to the Genin, Sasuke was silently looking around at the competition. '_So, he's here. I'll get to see what he's capable of._' He thought to himself as he stared at the red headed shinobi from Suna. Sasuke hoped to have a chance to fight him, but not yet. He had been told by Kakashi, a few days ago, that due to the nature of the Fuja Hoin it would be 4 days until he could start using chakra correctly. Today was his third day, so whoever he faced in his preliminary match; he wouldn't be able to use ninjutsu against them.

Soon the Hokage's speech was done and a series of names began to flash on the large screen above. A second later, Sasuke smirked slightly as he read his own name on the screen. '_Well, at least I'll get to finish early._' Sasuke thought to himself as he walked forward to face his opponent, Yoroi Akado, a member of Kabuto's team.

As the genin, jonin and examiners made their way to the upper level, Temari looked around and saw that Karui was no where to be seen. '_I guess __her__ team didn't make it._' The Suna kunoichi thought to herself.

The match between Sauske and Yoroi hadn't been anything overly great, but when he used Chakra Kyuin on Sasuke it began to look like Sasuke was going to lose. However, Sasuke was able to get away and use his new Taijutsu move, Shishi Rendan, and secure a win. Unfortunately, he passed out due to nearly having all of his chakra absorbed. Sasuke was taken away to the medical ward by the med-nin team.

'_That is odd; Sasuke should have just used one of his fire jutsu to roast that guy._ _Something's going on with my team that I'm not being told about. Well, I don't have a right to judge. It's not like I've been honest with them._' Naruto thought to himself as a Shino fought against Zaku, from Oto. Naruto looked down to see that Shino had won, since Zaku's arms exploded. Naruto was impressed; he hadn't expected the quiet Aburame to be so ruthless. '_It's always the quiet ones._' He thought with a small grin.

* * *

The next match was between Kankuro from Suna and Misumi Tsurugi. At first, the match seemed to be a rather boring taijutsu match, until Misumi literarily wrapped his limbs around Kankuro; squeezing hard on the Suna shinobi's neck. Naruto was surprised that he was a little squeamish at the sight. Soon, the sound of breaking bones was heard, indicating that the Suna-nin's neck was broken. Before Misumi was declared the winner, Kankuro's head spun around and wooden arms emerged from his body. The mummified package that Kankuro had placed on the ground unravelled its self to reveal the real Kankuro and the one gripping Misumi as a puppet. Kankuro tightened the arms around his puppet until Misumi's spine broke, earning him the win for the round.

* * *

The fourth match was between Sakura and Ino Yamanaka. For the first minute the two Leaf kunoichi talked back and forth, which slightly got under Naruto's nerves. But, it gave him more time to prepare for his own match. Eventually, the girls tied their forehead protectors onto their foreheads and began to fight. For a while it was a taijutsu and insult throwing match. Though, with Lee's crush on Sakura, it was like poetry to him.

Eventually, Sakura insulted Ino about only caring about her perfect hair. This, in turn, caused Ino to snap and cut off her hair. She threw the cut strands at Sakura, declaring that she didn't need them and that she was going to force Sakura to give up. After having pretended to use her family's Shintenshin no Jutsu, but in reality trapping Sakura with chakra flowing through the cut strands of her hair, Ino used Shintenshin for real and took over Sakura's body. Ino made Sakura raise her hand and started to announce Sakura's forfeit.

Naruto sighed to himself as he unclasped the Immortals, setting them down. He cupped his hands over his wrapped mouth and shouted out, "Sakura, you've come this far. Don't let yourself lose to that Sasuke loving idiot. If you lose, you will never be acknowledged by him!" effectively cutting off Ino's controlled surrender of Sakura.

Sakura's body began to shake and fell to the ground as she regained control from Ino. Naruto was quietly impressed; throwing a Yamanaka out of one's mind was no easy task. With one last hurl of strength, the two Leaf kunoichi charged each other. They slammed their fists as hard as they could on the other's face, resulting in a double knockout.

Kakashi and Asuma shunshined down to the lower level and took their students to the upper level. After checking on them, they saw that they were fine. The two kunoichi then woke up and were told that due to a double knockout, there would be no winner for the fourth match.

* * *

The fifth match was between Ten-ten, the kunoichi from Team Gai, and Temari, the Suna kunoichi. Naruto looked down at the two kunoichi as they stared each other down, as he, Sakura, and Ino tried to protect their ears from excited cheers of Lee and Gai.

"Hopefully, this match will be better than the last one," Naruto said as Ten-ten jumped into the air.

"What's that suppose to mean, Naruto-baka?" Sakura asked with a glare at him.

"It means Sakura-chan, that after having done something that only a handful of other shinobi have done, you tied in your match. You threw a Yamanaka out of your mind, but I the end you tied. You should have had something up your sleeve." Naruto simply told her.

"Like you could do any better, Naruto." Ino said defending her friend.

"Actually, I could and will. Unlike someone on my team, I haven't been gushing for the past four months."

"You've been doing the same training as Sasuke and I." Sakura said, starting to get really pissed at her blond teammate.

"I've been doing the same training that you know of." Naruto corrected. "I happen to also train by myself. Besides, do you really think that Sasuke stops training when he gets home? My specialty is Kage Bunshin, and one of the effects of Kage Bunshin is that what ever my clones learn, I learn when they are dispelled. So," Naruto concluded, "In the 5 months since we graduated from the academy, I've done 25 months worth of training. You Sakura, on the other hand have just been messing around, making yourself a liability. That is something that I'll be putting a stop to." Naruto finished.

This had Kakashi and the other eavesdropping jonin raising their eyebrows in curiosity, wondering what the academy dead last could hope to do. All the while, Ibiki smirked to himself.

"Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Temari cried out, sending a vortex of razor sharp gale winds at Ten-ten. The genin weapon mistress was lifted up into the air as hundreds of invisible blades began to cut into her.

"See? You should be more like her," Naruto said to Sakura, "She's strong, ruthless and good looking all at the same time."

Everyone watched as Ten-ten fell, landing harshly on her back on Temari's iron fan.

Naruto gave a soft sigh and said, "That is just beautiful." Everyone looked sideways at the hooded blond and sweat dropped. They could see the hearts in his eyes and they were orange.

'_Why do all of my students have to be so weird?_' Kakashi thought to himself.

Temari threw Ten-ten off of her fan, were the girl flew until she was caught by her teammate, Lee.

"Nice catch." Temari said to Lee.

"What is your problem? Is this how you treat someone who did their best?" Lee shouted out at the girl.

"Oh, shut up and take that garbage out of here." Temari replied.

Lee began to charge the Suna kunoichi and jumped into the air. "Konoha Senpu," Lee cried out.

'_Damn it._' Naruto thought to himself as he jumped into the battle arena.

As Lee spun around to present Temari's face with the back of his heel, his leg was stopped as it met with Naruto's hand. Everyone stared wide eyed at Naruto speed.

'_He has grown so much in the last few months._' Ibiki thought to himself, watching the happenings.

"Lee-kun, take your teammate and go. If you continue with this, you could be disqualified." Naruto told his friend.

"Very well, Naruto-kun." Lee replied. He let his leg down and went to hand Ten-ten over to the med-nins. Naruto stared at Temari for a moment, before jumping back up to the upper level.

* * *

Soon, everyone quieted down about what they saw, while they were clearing away Ten-ten's weapons and the 6th match was announced between Nara Shikamaru and Tsuchi Kin. The match was relatively a simple match, Shikamaru waited for his opponent to start monologueing about her attacks and then hit her with his Kagemane no Jutsu, forcing her movements to match his. Shikamaru the pulled out a shuriken, while forcing Kin to do the same and made them both throw it. Just as the shuriken was about to hit, Shikamaru just let his body fall back into a handstand. Kin wasn't so lucky; since she didn't pay attention to where she was; she hit the wall behind her and knocked herself out.

'_Impressive. He was able to win because his opponent forgot one of the most basic rules._' Naruto thought to himself, smirking at his lazy friend's genius. However, his smirking was cut short as he looked at what was on the announcement screen: _**Inuzuka Kiba VS. Uzumaki Naruto**_.

* * *

"Finally!! It's about time." Naruto shouted out in joy of getting his chance to fight.

"We can definitely beat him Akamaru." Kiba told his nin-dog, who happily barked; agreeing with him.

Naruto calmly walked to the stairs to get to his match, where as Kiba just jumped over the railing and into the arena.

"Naruto, do you want your gauntlets?" Sakura asked her teammate.

"Nah, leave them there." Naruto replied as he descended down the stairs.

'_So, Naruto Uzumaki is his name?_' Temari thought to herself, as she peered over the railing to see what the mysterious hooded-nin now known as Naruto would do.

'_There's no way Kiba will lose to Naruto-baka._' Ino thought, cheering for Kiba.

'_Well, time to see how much you've changed, Naruto._' Shikamaru thought as he eagerly waited to see the troublesome changes in Naruto.

'_I want to cheer for Naruto-kun, but I'm on Kiba-kun's team and he might get mad._' Hinata thought depressingly to herself.

"The seventh match is Inuzuka Kiba vs. Uzumaki Naruto." Called out Gekko Hayate.

Not even trying to stop himself, Kiba laughed while saying, "It's like we've already won. How lucky can you get, Akamaru?" Akamaru barked happily from inside Kiba's coat.

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Naruto shot back, before continuing, "And don't bring a puppy into this fight, either. It's just in they way."

"You baka, Akamaru is fighting with me. The Inuzuka clan fights using nin-dogs. They're our tools, just like a kunai or a shuriken. Animals and bugs are seen as weapons." Kiba replied, as he put Akamaru down on the ground.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Fine, you'll need all the help you can get to beat me."

"Hah, acting all tough. Akamaru, you stay out of it. I'll fight alone." Kiba said as he gently pushed Akamaru back.

On the upper level, Kurenai looked over to Kakashi and said, "So this is your last student, Naruto, eh? Well, sorry Kakashi, but there's no way he'll beat Kiba."

Sakura just glared a little at Kurenai, a teammate was a teammate, as Kakashi replied, "We'll see about that."

"I really feel sorry for you, Naruto, so I'll finish this with one punch." Kiba said to Naruto.

"Is that so? Then I'll give you the first punch for free." Naruto shot back.

"Quit acting so tough, dead last." Kiba replied, thinking back to his time at the academy with Naruto and how the blond had been the worst student at the academy.

Seeing that the boys were done trading insults, Gekko yelled out saying, "Begin the match." He then jumped back to a safe distance.

"Gijyuu Ninpou, Shikyaku no Jutsu." Kiba called out, getting on all fours. He was now much faster, than if he was on two legs. With his chakra flaring blue around him, Kiba decided to take Naruto up on his cocky offer. "Here I come." He said, right before charging at Naruto.

* * *

Everyone watched as Kiba covered the distance between him and Naruto in the blink of an eye. Kiba had buried his right elbow deep into Naruto's gut. Naruto flew back a few feet before landing and skidded a few more, before finally stopping a few feet from the wall. On the upper level, everyone was having different reactions to what had happened before them.

"See, Kakashi?" Kurenai said to the legendary scarecrow.

"That guy is weak." Kankuro said between his older sister and younger brother.

'_That's it?_' Temari thought to herself, disappointedly. She was expecting to be impressed by this Naruto.

'_Not youthful, Naruto-kun._' Lee thought as he looked down at his friend's fight. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see his sensei behind him.

"Have faith Lee. Sometimes the power of youth takes a moment to awaken in our comrades, but you must never doubt your friends." Gai told his pupil.

"Hai, Gai-sensei." Lee replied with renewed vigor.

"There was no way Naruto-baka could have ever beaten Kiba-kun." Ino said from between her teammates.

'_Don't tell me that's it, brat._' Anko thought to herself as she looked at Ibiki's apprentice.

'_Interesting start, Doctor. Now, how are you going to finish it?_' Ibiki thought as he gazed down at his student.

Sakura looked back at her sensei, she saw Kakashi give her his patented upside-down smile and give her a thumbs up. '_Alright Naruto, show everyone what Team 7 is all about._' Sakura thought as she smirked softly to herself, Naruto wouldn't let himself be beaten by Kiba.

* * *

Back in the arena, Kiba was walking back to Akamaru when he turned to the examiner and said, "He won't be waking up anytime soon, Examiner-san. Go ahead and call it." Kiba's smirking and congratulating of himself was cut short, as he heard the gasps of every above him. He then heard what could only be described as a blink behind him, followed by the opening of a bottle, and finished off by an extremely annoying slurp of someone drinking something. Kiba turned around to see Naruto standing and drinking a bottle of water.

Ibiki mentally smirked as several others cheered.

"Kiba, not that I'm not flattered by that '_love tap_', but you just aren't my type. You might have better luck with Sasuke, though. Anyway, was that it?" Naruto asked the dog-user ninja.

"What do you mean, '_better luck with Sasuke_'?" Kiba asked, trying to understand what Naruto was saying.

"You know, better luck with getting a date, since he's gay. I mean come on, haven't you seen the way he's been staring at the guys in here? Especially that red headed guy, from Suna." Naruto replied. This statement caused several of the guys on the upper level to shiver and one red haired Suna-nin to wonder what gay meant.

Ibiki silently shook with laughter at what Naruto was implying.

Sakura and Ino both glared at Naruto for saying that their Sasuke-kun was gay.

"You baka, I'm not gay!!" Kiba shouted back.

"Hey, I told you I was sorry. Look, Kiba, I would have been more accepting of your affection, if you were you know… a hot girl; like your cousin. Well, you better use Akamaru, if that's as good as you've got." Naruto said as he screwed the cap back onto the water bottle and blinked it away.

Several people were wondering how Naruto called the bottle of water to him when he didn't even summon it. After all, there were no hand seals or anything of the sort.

Getting pissed, Kiba said, "Come on Akamaru." Akamaru barked behind his master as they charged Naruto together. As they ran towards Naruto, Kiba threw a few smoke bombs at Naruto. The bombs detonated on impact and soon Naruto was surrounded by thick dark purple smoke.

'_Shit. I can't see anything through this smoke and I've yet to master silent killing, so hearing is out too._' Naruto thought to himself right before he was hit in the side. From every direction Naruto kept getting hit, the side, the front, the back, and the top. '_I've got to get out of this smoke._' Naruto thought and ran to the side. As he was emerging from the smoke, Naruto saw Akamaru flying at him and tackle him back into the smoke. "Fuck." Naruto yelled out as he dealt with Akamaru.

Kiba had jumped out of the smoke when he head Naruto's yell. "Alright, he fell for it." Kiba said as the smoke began to dissipate and revealed a happy Akamaru with Naruto laid out on the floor. "Good work, Akamaru." The small white puppy began to run towards Kiba, playfully barking as he did so. It wasn't until Akamaru had bounded towards his arms, that Kiba thought something was wrong. The small white puppy had a look of anger on his face as he opened his jaw wide and sunk his sharp teeth deep into Kiba's wrist.

* * *

Everyone was shocked, seeing Akamaru bite Kiba. Akamaru had been Kiba's constant companion, something wasn't right.

"You idiot, you fell for it." Came the voice of Naruto from Akamaru. With a poof of smoke, Naruto appeared where Akamaru had been. Naruto let go and jumped back. He opened his bandages a little more to spit, before closing them. "You even taste like a dog." Naruto yelled out.

"Where's Akamaru?" Kiba demanded.

"Over here." Kiba looked behind Naruto to see a second Naruto holding Akamaru by the back of the nin-dog's neck.

Several on the shinobi on the upper level were amazed at what Naruto had done.

Ino looked down at the only other blond ninja outside of her family, with shock. "No way, that's Naruto? He's on even ground with Naruto. In fact, he might be better than him." She said with surprise filling her voice.

"Naruto was never crafty enough to use something like the Kage Bunshin or Henge together, before." Shikamaru said to his two teammates.

"He's good at using his techniques at the right time." Temari said to her younger brothers, silently impressed at Naruto's use of skill. She would have just blown the smoke away, not even bothering to trap the dog.

"I guess he isn't that weak." Kankuro replied, offhandedly. Gaara, however, chose to remain silent.

"Looks like you've gotten stronger, but it's over. I'm going to get serious now." Kiba said to Naruto. Naruto just silently arched a hidden eyebrow at this.

'_He's grown even more in the exam._' Kakashi, The Third, and Ibiki all thought simultaneously.

'_Is that really Naruto, the all-time failure?_' Kurenai thought to herself, surprised that Kiba was unable to take Naruto down, yet.

"I guess he's no longer the Naruto that we knew." Shikamaru said to Choji and Ino, who both nodded in agreement.

'_What exactly did you do, Kakashi?_' Asuma thought to himself.

'_The growth of our Kiba and Akamaru, might be greater than Naruto's._' Kurenai thought as she watched her student reach into his nin-pouch.

"Naruto, you're going to give me back Akamaru." Kiba said, just before he flicked a small brown looking marble into Akamaru's mouth.

Naruto didn't know what Kiba was doing, so he was surprised to see Akamaru's fur start to turn a burnt red color. The nin-dog's body grew slightly bigger and his fur became more feral looking. With a loud growl, Akamaru swung back and dispelled Naruto's clone.

"What the hell, did you give that dog?" Naruto asked as Kiba also consumed one of the odd pills.

'_Food pills?_' Kakashi thought to himself, wondering what the Inuzuka boy was planning on doing with his student.

'_Looks like Kiba is planning to end this now._' Kurenai thought with a smile to herself.

"Let's go, Akamaru." Kiba yelled out as he crouched low to the ground. Akamaru jumped on his back giving to confirmed barks. "Gijyuu Ninpou, Jyuujin Bunshin." Kiba yelled out. A puff of smoke then covered the dog user and his dog, but when the smoke cleared, Akamaru was replaced with another Kiba. Both were very feral looking, especially the bottom one, the real Kiba, with his blue chakra surrounding him.

'_This doesn't look good for me._' Naruto thought, as he looked at the angry expression on the face of both Kibas.

* * *

"What did he eat?" Shikamaru asked, not knowing what the Inuzuka boy had done.

"He ate a food pill." Choji replied to his best friend.

"What's a food pill?" asked Ino, having never heard of such an item.

"It's a special medicine that allows the shinobi that uses it to fight for three days and three nights straight. It's high in protein and is quickly absorbed into the body. It also, has substances that act as both a stimulus and a tranquillizer." Choji informed his teammates, as his family made food pills. Shikamaru and Ino both looked surprised by the information as they turned back to the fight.

"Kiba and Akamaru's chakra have most likely doubled, even if it's temporary." Choji added.

* * *

"Time to end this. Let's go." Kiba yelled out. The two Kibas jumped forward at Naruto with amazing speed.

'_Shit._' Naruto thought as he jumped back to prevent from being smashed.

As the dust settled, the Kiba on his left ran forward, slashing at him. Naruto was able to dodge, but given the new speed of his opponent, he was only able to concentrate on one at a time. So, he never noticed the other Kiba running along the wall and lunge at him, until he turned around. Naruto dove to the side, to avoid being hit.

"Naruto…" Sakura yelled out for her teammate.

"Naruto is in a bad situation." Asuma commented from behind his students. The members of Team 10 looked back at their sensei waiting for him to elaborate. "Kiba has chakra surrounding his body and he is a total combat-type fighter that brawls like a beast. A food pill that doubles his chakra is perfect for him."

Back in the arena, Naruto was still only dodging Kiba's well timed attacks with Akamaru. '_Shit. When I dodge one of them, the other is there with an attack. They're the perfect tag team._' Naruto thought as he jumped back from the latest attack from one of them. With having to dodge and move so much, Naruto didn't know which one was Kiba and which one was Akamaru.

As the two slashed their clawed hands at him, Naruto jumped high and far into the air. Unfortunately, he was too slow. "I see a vulnerable spot." One of them yelled out. The two Kibas charged forward to where Naruto was going to land.

"Take this, Gatsuuga!" Kiba yelled out. Both his and Akamaru's bodies spun around at high speed, looking like two living drills snaking their way to Naruto.

Naruto looked back just in time to see the attack bearing down on him. Unable to dodge, he took the attack full force. Over and over again, sharp claws starched at him with great force; ripping at parts of his coat and shattering his shades. He was then tossed into the air and landed hard with a thud, nearly at the entrance of the arena, by the stairs to the upper level. He could feel the blood coming out of his mouth slipping between the black wrappings. Everyone looked on in surprise at the force from which Naruto hit.

"That's the difference in our skill." Kiba said tauntingly as he stood.

Slowly, Naruto's fingers curled inward. "I'm… going to be a Hokage… I can't lose here." Naruto groaned out, he face planted into the ground; as he focused on his dream to get his through the pain.

"You? Hokage? When you're weaker than me?" Kiba asked. He then began to laugh as said, "I'll become Hokage for you!"

* * *

As Kiba continued to laugh at him, Naruto slowly began to recall all of the laughter he had gotten from the other academy students, due to his mistakes. How people would look down on him, as if he was nothing more than a speck of dirt in the road. Not ever worth acknowledging. But yet, he had done it. He was able to pass the Genin exam, learn an A-rank Jutsu in a single night, become a member of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation ANBU Unit, beat Haku, start his own businesses, and befriend two Iwa-nin. No more, no more holding back.

* * *

"You know inside that you can't become Hokage, so stop acting tough and give it up dead last." Kiba said as he continued to laugh even more. Yup, Naruto had decided to crush Kiba. The dog user had not only insulted him, but his dream. It was time to turn dog boy into dog bitch.

On the upper level, Hinata's heart broke for her long time crush. She knew he wasn't weak. Hinata had seen Naruto strength when no one else had, but now everyone was watching.

As the jonin and the examiners watched the taunting, they each took note of one particular detail. It was getting colder in the room, a room that didn't have A/C.

* * *

Slowly, Naruto began to stand; much to Kiba's dislike. As he stood, Naruto began to unclasp the silver buckles of his trench coat. Carefully, he took his coat off as he didn't want to damage it anymore than it already had been. Everyone stared at the rock hard chest, chiselled abs, and muscle toned arms of the young blond shinobi. Several of the females present were blush as they gazed at his sun kissed torso.

'_That's what Naruto looks like under his coat?_' Thought Sakura, surprised at her teammates physique.

'_Damn. It's him._' Temari thought to herself as she recalled the blond shinobi she had watched while she pleasured herself. Even though it wasn't intentional, she could feel a heat growing between her legs.

'_That's hot…_' Ino thought dumbly to herself.

Hinata was blushing as bright as a tomato at seeing Naruto exposed flesh, while in the back of her mind a small voice yelled out, '_Yeah, take it off for momma you naughty boy._'

Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai however, were all staring at an interesting tattoo on Naruto's right shoulder.

* * *

Naruto threw his jacket up on the upper level, all the while never raising his head. Kiba began to growl slightly at Naruto's actions, he was getting sick of the dead last not staying in his place.

"If you compete with me over the title of Hokage…" Naruto said, with barely restrained anger. "I'm going to crush you." He finished as he raised his head.

Kiba and everyone in the room stared at Naruto's eyes. The sky blue orbs form earlier, were gone and were replaced with the ice cold spheres before them. His eyes were almost glowing with a radiant of coldness. If only looks could kill. Though he would never admit it, Kiba knew he struck a nerve and that was going to cost him. "Geez, you sure are an annoying guy." Kiba complained, trying to ignore the foreboding atmosphere. "Fine. I'll make sure you never stand up again!" Kiba yelled out, trying to get his confidence back up. "Gatsuuga!"

Both Kiba and Akamaru charged the blond shinobi. As their bodies spun towards Naruto, the other Leaf Genin looked at Naruto, waiting for him to move. However, all he did was cross his arms over each other and brace himself. Everyone waited with bated breath as they saw Naruto gather chakra into his arms.

Just as the two swirling vortexes of Kiba and Akamaru were about to hit him Naruto spoke. "Chakra Nami." He swung his arms forward, blue chakra coming forth from both hands in an arch and hitting Kiba and Akamaru. They both went to different sides of the arena, both of them having been knocked out of their Gatsuuga attack.

* * *

Kurenai and her students looked down at what had happened with shock written on their faces. Kurenai herself couldn't believe what she had seen. It should have been impossible for the academy failure to knock Kiba or Akamaru out of Gatsuuga, knocking both of them out was insane. Sure, she could do it, but she was a jonin.

'_This isn't good._' Shino thought to himself. He had been listening to his bugs and if they were correct, Kiba should have surrendered. It wasn't going to end well.

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru spun around, both looking at the ninja that smacked the away. Getting more and more angered by the moment, Kiba ran forward and threw three smoke bombs at Naruto. In seconds, the smoke blanketed Naruto from view; Kiba and Akamaru began to spin once again and with a yell of '_Gatsuuga_' from Kiba, the two attacked the smoke, hoping to hit Naruto.

Everyone watched as for the next minute Kiba and Akamaru shredded the smoke. Soon the attack of Gatsuuga stopped and the smoke began to clear. Slowly, they were able to make out three figures in the smoke. Once it was clear enough, everyone was shocked to see not two, but three Kibas standing in the arena.

'_So, that's his plan. Interesting…_' Kakashi thought to himself.

The three Kiba's stared at each other for a moment. "I may not have recognized it last time, as I wasn't focusing. But this time, it's a different story Naruto…" Kiba said, right before he swung his fist into the left cheek of the Kiba to his left. The force of the blow caused the Kiba to fly back. "Your scent betrayed you Naruto. You shouldn't underestimate the noses of the Inuzuka clan."

* * *

'_Good plan, but Kiba is able to focus his chakra into his nose and increase his sense of smelling by 1000 fold. With that, he's easily able to tell people apart by just smell…_' Kurenai was thinking to herself as the Kiba, that was punched, disappeared in a poof of smoke. However, instead of seeing a downed Naruto, everyone saw the unconscious form of Akamaru.

"Akamaru?!!" Kiba exclaimed in great surprise at seeing his down partner instead of seeing his downed opponent. The members of Team 8 were all surprised at what happened; Kiba's nose shouldn't have failed him.

"Then it's YOU! Take this!" Kiba yelled out as he spun around and slammed his fist hard into the remaining Kiba's face. The Kiba flew back and bounced a couple of times on the stone floor before he started the skid. During the skid, the henge was dropped and coming out of the smoke wasn't Naruto, but a second Akamaru.

'_Oh crap._' Kurenai thought, as she realized what had happened.

Kiba heard the releasing of a henge from behind him. As he turned around, Kiba saw Naruto bearing down on him and was unprepared for the force behind Naurto's punch. The young Inuzuka boy was sent hurling backwards.

"Was Naruto ever this clever back at the academy?" Ino asked her teammates in the upper level.

Kiba landed next to Akamaru and gazed down at his partner. Akamaru turned his head slowly to Kiba and gave a soft pleading whine. "Akamaru, are you alright?" Kiba asked as he moved his right hand toward Akamaru. In response, Akamaru shot forward and bit down on Kiba's hand, hard. '_What the…_' Kiba thought to himself, right before the voice of Naruto came from Akamaru.

"Dude, how stupid can you be to have fallen for this again?" Naruto-Akamaru asked. "What is it now, three times?"

Kiba threw the fake off of his hand and watched as Naruto dropped the henge. He stared at the two Naruto's standing in front of him. "See you around Kiba." The Naruto on the right said as the left one waved his hand. The next moment, both of the Naruto's were gone.

'_Both of them, were clones?_' Temari thought to herself. Over the course of the match, it had been interesting to watch this Naruto guy fight, but she was wondering what it was all leading up to.

'_Where's Naruto?_' The jonin thought to themselves.

"Inuzuka-san, I don't think you're taking this fight seriously." Came Naruto voice from behind him. Kiba spun around, as everyone turned to see Naruto holding a bound Akamaru. Akamaru had his hind legs tied together and his jaw closed shut with ninja wire. Naruto was holding the dog up by the neck, with his right hand.

"I think it's time to properly motivate you." Naruto said. He then flicked his hand and the resounding snap of braking bones filled the room. All of the Leaf Genin and their Sensei stared at what had happened in open horror. Naruto had just killed Akamaru.

* * *

'_This has gone too far._' Kakashi thought to himself.

Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. To hear about it was one thing, but to actually see someone kill in front of you was something completely different. There would be no awakening for the nin-dog.

"You seem angry, Kiba." Naruto pointed out to his shocked opponent. "Why are you angry? Sure, I broke your tool, but that's no reason to be angry." Naruto asked his opponent.

"Why am I angry..?" Kiba asked, shaking. "YOU JUST KILLED MY FRIEND, YOU BASTARD." Kiba yelled back as he started to foam at the mouth.

"I didn't kill your friend, Kiba." Naruto replied, a darkly aloof look on his face. "You said so yourself." He then began to focus chakra into his left hand and soon a small golden sphere appeared in his hand. Naruto summoned chakra into the sphere and then out of the sphere.

Everyone watched with incredible amazement at what they were seeing before them. Somehow, a holographic screen had appeared before everyone in the middle of the arena. On the screen the image of Naruto and Kiba appeared, just as they were before their fight.

* * *

"_The Inuzuka clan fights using nin-dogs."_ Kiba's image said. _"They're our tools, just like a kunai or a shuriken"_ Silence filled the room as the recording continued; _"Animals and bugs are seen as weapons."_

* * *

After a few replays, the image stopped and the screen metalized back into the sphere from which it came.

"Understand now?" Naruto asked Kiba as the horror showed on the Inuzuka's face. "If Akamaru was your friend, why didn't you save him Kiba? You let him die." Naruto asked as he pocketed the sphere.

In the upper level Ibiki saw what his apprentice was doing. '_You're playing a dangerous game there Naruto.' _He thought to himself._ 'Doing psychological torture on an Inuzuka by killing their nin-dog is not a good idea..._' It was because of the bond between the Inuzuka clan members and their nin-dogs that none of them were able to join the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit. Although, there were several in the basic ANBU Unit and even more in the ANBU Hunter-nin Unit.

Kiba was trembling in anger. Anger at himself, at Naruto, and more. "I'LL KILL YOU!!" Kiba yelled savagely, as he charged at Naruto.

As Kiba began to run towards him, Naruto gently tossed Akamaru's dead body to the side. He didn't move or reach for any weapons as the Inuzuka boy bared down on him. Just as Kiba was almost upon him, Naruto shot his arm out and caught Kiba by his throat. Kiba began to slash over and over at Naruto chest, cutting into his flesh, either not caring or not knowing that Naruto had his hand on his throat.

After a few moments of letting Kiba claw at him, Naruto sighed to himself. '_Well, I think I've given everyone a decent show. Time for the big finally and then end the match._' Naruto thought to himself, preparing to end the fight. Naruto stared directly into Kiba's eyes and released a massive amount of killing intent.

* * *

In his blind rage, Kiba continued his assault, when suddenly an ice cold feeling of death washed over him. He could feel the blood gushing through his body, his body destroyed a hundred different ways, and all the while his body was perfectly fine, but the feeling of death wouldn't go away. It was coming from somewhere close, very close. Too close, in fact. Kiba began to have an even colder feeling grip him, when he realized it was coming from Naruto. '_I'm going to die. Naruto is going to kill me._' Kiba thought to himself, unable to move of do anything but just stay.

Everyone on the upper level was having their own thoughts about what they where feeling. All of the jonin were wondering how the happy-go-lucky Naruto could release such a strong killing intent. '_I-It's just l-like with that Oro-Orochimaru guy._' Sakura thought to herself, as she sunk down to her knees. The ever quite and statue-like Shino was shaking due to the buzzing of his bugs. The entire hive wanted him to carry them out of there. Choji actually dropped his bag of chips and left them as he felt the pressure of Naruto's killing intent. While not realizing it, Hinata had started to shed tears. Lee gripped the side of the railing hard; this feeling wasn't youthful at all. Temari stood as still as a never thought someone could release such a strong intent like Gaara.

'_Not bad, Doctor._' Ibiki thought to himself, pleased with his apprentice's progress.

As fast as it came, the killing intent was then gone. Kiba gasped for air as though he had been held under ice cold water for days, so he was completely taking by surprise when suddenly a yell of 'Chakra Bukuhutsu' was heard and a blast of chakra went through his stomach as a fist ploughed into said stomach. Kiba gripped his stomach as the air was forced out of him. Slowly, everything turned black and he fell over unconscious.

* * *

Everyone stared in stunned silence, Kiba was down and there was no way he would be getting back up from a punch like that.

"How's our guest?" Naruto asked aloud to what looked like no one. Everyone was surprised when they heard a voice from the ceiling answer. "He's doing fine, but I think it's time he went to bed." Everyone looked up to see another Naruto on the ceiling, holding a living Akamaru. The Naruto jumped down and handed Akamaru over, before poofing out of existence.

Naruto placed Akamaru on Kiba's unconscious body and stared down at the dog. "When your idiot partner wakes up, tell him I said, he fought well and could have won. But when he used you and insulted my dream, he threw the match. Tell him he needs to stop being so predictable. See you around, Akamaru." Naruto said to the dog.

As the med-nins put Kiba onto the stretcher, Hayate called the match with Naruto was the victor. The members of Team 7 and Lee cheered for Naruto's victory.

When the med-nins had carried Kiba and Akamaru out of the room, Naruto blinked a bucket into his hands and hurled.

* * *

Everyone reached back slightly as Naruto threw up into the bucket. After a moment, Naruto was finished and sent the bucket back to where ever he had called it from. The computer then began to flip through names as he walked the stairs.

'_What should I do?_' Hinata asked herself as Naruto walked closer and closer to her. Ever since their days at the academy, Hinata had liked Naruto and wanted to get closer to him. Now was a perfect chance, but she didn't know how to start. "N-Naruto-kun…" She called out, as he walked past.

Naruto stopped when he heard Hinata call his name. "Hai?" He asked as he turned around. Hinata didn't say anything, but presented him with a small jar. "What's this?" He asked curious as to what it was.

"It's medical cream." Kurenai answered for her student.

"Oh? Why for me, Hinata?" Naruto asked the nervous girl in from of him.

"Just take it… Naruto," replied Kurenai.

"Thank you very much Hinata. This is really nice of you." Naruto said to the brightly blushing girl. Naruto then went over to his team and stood between Sakura and Lee. As he rubbed some of the ointment on the last few remaining cuts from Kiba's clawing, Naruto felt a hand clasp his shoulder. Looking behind him, Naruto saw that it was his sensei.

"Naruto, we need to talk." Kakashi told his student.

"What do we need to talk about Sensei?"

"First, how did you even learn some of those moves and releasing killing intent."

"I learned like everyone learns. I trained." Naruto replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Second, why were these moves never shown before?"

"Well, this is a hidden village filled with shinobi and anyone of them could become a missing-nin, so I'd just rather not have a criminal using my techniques. Plus, a shinobi never reveals everything he knows." Naruto answered again.

"Finally, we need to talk about that tattoo."

"What tattoo?" Naruto asked dumbly, not seeing what his sensei was talking about. Kakashi just nodded his head at Naruto's right arm, causing said boy to look at his arm. It was only then that he saw it; in his haste of removing his jacket Naruto forgot to place a henge over his ANBU apprentice tattoo. This wasn't going to end well for him. "I'm in trouble aren't I?" He asked.

"For impersonation, very much so." Kakashi replied.

"Who says I'm impersonating anyone? I'm talking about my status being revealed." Naruto told him.

"Naruto, you can't expect me to believe that you're in _that_." Kakashi said to the blond genin.

"Well, after the preliminary matches, you can ask the old man. However, anymore talk of this subject in front of foreign shinobi would be seen as an act of treason, so let's enjoy the remaining fights and then, we will talk to the Hokage afterwards." Naruto said, leaving no room for argument.

* * *

Naruto and Kakashi, then both looked down into the arena to see that the 8th match was starting it was Hyuuga Hinata against Hyuuga Neji. The match was clearly in Neji's favor. At the beginning, Neji kept spouting about destiny; while Naruto was educated on the Hyuuga clan by Lee. Kakashi explained to Naruto and Sakura what made the Hyuuga so powerful and famous was their bloodline limit the _Byakugan_. Naruto had had his last nerve grated, listening to Neji go on about destiny and how people cannot change their fate.

He shouted out that it was a bunch of bullshit and that people could change. The two cousins than began to fight. It seemed to be on even ground, so far. While they fought, Gai explained about the Hyuuga clan's taijutsu style the Gentle Fist. Rock lee, then told them, how the inner coils system worked. It was at this point, that it looked like Hinata was about to land a critical strike on Neji; when stopped the flow of her chakra and hit her with a critical strike instead. Kakashi then explained that he had closed her chakra pressure points, also called opening points, and how even with the Sharingan he was unable to see the opening points. Hinata was hit several more times and spat out more blood.

One hit eventually got her on the ground. Just as the examiner was about to call the match, Naruto yell out not to end the match yet. Sakura yelled at her teammate that the match was clearly over. However, to everyone's surprise, Hinata slowly began to stand. Neji asked his younger cousin why she was still choosing to stand. Hinata said that it wasn't her that was suffering, but it was he who was suffering with the destiny between the houses. This statement didn't sit well with Neji, who rushed at Hinata to kill her. Just as he was within striking distance, several of the Leaf Jonin sensei's jumped into the arena to stop Neji from killing Hinata.

Unfortunately, the damage was already done as Hinata started to go into cardiac arrest. Seeing her student in critical condition, Kurenai flipped Hinata over onto her back.

* * *

Sakura, Lee, and Naruto jumped down into the arena to check on Hinata. "Hey Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Her color doesn't look good." Sakura said from over his shoulder. It was true, most Hyuuga were pale as far as skin tone went, but Hinata was more of a sickly white paste at the moment.

'_I could probably use it, but it's still in the experimental stages._' Naruto thought to himself on how to help Hinata with her condition.

"Hey… The loser over there." Came Neji's voice from the side. Naruto looked up to see that Neji was talking to him.

"I'd like to tell you two things. First, if you're a shinobi, then cut out the pathetic cheering of others. And second, a loser is a loser. They cannot change." Neji said to the annoying young blond.

Naruto stared at Neji with a calculating look. This guy had really been pissing him off, with his junk about fate and destiny. "Do you want to test me?" Naruto asked him in a low voice. Neji simply gave him a smirk as a reply. '_That does it._' Naruto thought to himself as he turned back to Hinata.

* * *

Everyone watched, as Naruto hovered his hands above Hinata's stomach and chest. Soon dark green chakra covered his hands and was slowly covering Hinata's body.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kurenai yelled trying to stop Naruto from possibly further damaging her student.

"Don't interrupt me." Naruto growled out to her, cause the jonin to back off.

A few moments later, Naruto was able to pull the blood that had been going into Hinata's organs and was able to repair said organs and give her some energy back. Soon the dark green chakra began to pull back until it was only holding the blood that he had removed.

Hinata's eyes slowly fluttered open and the blurry images formed into Naruto. "Naruto-kun?" She called out softly.

"Hey Hinata, are you alright after that last attack?" The blond shinobi asked her.

Hinata looked around to see that she was on the arena floor instead of being in a hospital room. Everyone else nearly had their jaws on the floor seeing Hinata wake up so soon. She should have been out for a few weeks, after that beating she went through.

"Hey Hinata, could I ask you for a favor?" Naruto asked the pale lavender-eyed girl.

"Um…, what do you need N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, as she blushed slightly with Naruto being so close to her.

"Can I have this?" He asked, showing her the blood.

"I-I guess so. Sure." Hinata replied confused.

"Thanks, Hinata. You're the greatest." Hinata blushed slightly more at the comment. He then watched in wonder, along with everyone else, as Naruto began to separate something from the blood, it was much smaller. The blond shinobi tossed the blood the side and released the chakra around it. He then blinked a syringe into his hands and began to force the strange substance into the barrel.

"Well, here's to changing destiny." Naruto said as he looked at the syringe and then at Hinata.

* * *

Hinata didn't understand what Naruto was talking about. She gasped in surprise, as Naruto turned they syringe onto himself, stabbed the back of his neck with the needle, and ejected himself with the strange substance.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Yelled Kakashi as he rushed over to his student, wondering if the boy had gone off the deep end.

Naruto collapsed onto the ground in pain. This had to be the most painful thing in the world; his eyes felt like they were on fire. Unable to hold back anymore, Naruto let out a yell of pain and began to beat his fist down on the concrete blocks.

The jonin, examiners, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Neji and everyone else watched as cracks began to appear from Naruto's hitting. A moment later, the yelling and hitting stopped. "Well, that was an experience unlike any other." Naruto said between gasping breaths.

"Naruto-kun, what did you do?" Hinata asked him.

"If you could show me your Byakugan for a moment, I'll show you." Naruto replied evasively.

Not sure what Naruto was getting at, but complying anyway, Hinata went through the hand seals with a small cry of '_Byakugan_' activated her family's bloodline limit. A moment later, she deactivated it. She then looked at Naruto, as they where standing up. "Well, this is what I did." Naruto replied, as he started to go through a few hand seals. A few very familiar hand seals, in fact they were the same hand seals that Hinata had just done.

"Naruto, you can't be serious-" Sakura had started to say, but was interrupted when Naruto cried out, _Byakugan_.

Everyone stared at Naruto with open shock, what they were seeing should be possible, but it was. Hinata gazed at Naruto's face and said her first public cussing, "Holy Shit Fucking Hell What The Beelzebub Is That!?" For years to come it would get laughs out of people.

Right now, everyone was looking at a blue-eyed Byakugan in Naruto's eyes.

"Well, I can see now, why everyone is so impressed with this bloodline limit." Naruto said, taking in the 360 degree vision. "Something wrong, there Neji?" Naruto asked, the older boy as he turned around; facing him Byakugan to Byakugan.

"What is that?" Neji asked, venom dripping from his voice.

"Oh, this?" Naruto asked, pointing to his eyes before continuing, "This is the Byakugan."

"I know that you baka. What I don't know is how you got it." Neji replied.

"This is the power of the Uzumaki clan. What's the matter Neji, not so sure of the Hyuuga clan's power anymore?" Naruto asked him cryptically.

"No, because however the hell you got it, it has to be illegal and will be removed." Neji answered.

"Oh it's perfectly legal." Naruto grinned menacingly. "In accordance with the founding of Konoha, in the laws regarding giving bloodlines, bloodlines may be given either by the clan head or by the clan heir. As Hinata is the first born child of Hyuuga Hiashi, she is the heir of the Hyuuga clan and is allowed to make such a decision. This can only be challenged by the current clan head in a fight, in which he may either fight or chose someone to represent him." Naruto replied smoothly, while silently thanking Kami that he had decided to read up on several of the laws when he started his businesses.

Everyone was wondering how Naruto could possibly know that and if it was true. Heads turned to the Hokage for confirmation.

"It is true." The Third Hokage replied. Granted, the law had been formed to allow for someone marrying into a clan, but Sarutobi just took a puff from his pipe and said, "This can all be discussed in more detail later. Right now, we have to matches to finish."

* * *

Everyone in the arena went back to the upper level, except the examiner and Hinata; who after being told by Naruto, went to get herself checked out by the med-nins.

The 9th match was between Gaara and Lee. For the first few minutes of the match, the fight was in favor of neither of them. Every time Lee attacked, it was blocked by Gaara's sand and every time Gaara attacked with his sand, Lee moved out of the way.

Gai explained to Sakura why Lee was only use Taijutsu and not Ninjutsu. The simple fact was, Lee couldn't.

After the explanation, Gai looked as he student was one the fingers of the statue and told him to take then off. '_Surely, he doesn't mean…_' Naruto thought to himself as Lee took off his leg warmers and showed the weights underneath. '_Even after getting the seals, he kept the weights on?_' Naruto questioned as Lee stood up.

Lee then dropped the weights to the ground, causing the entire tower to shake from the craters that were formed. '_Damn, no wonder I never beat him._' Naruto thought with wide eyes, as Lee jumped into action. The next few strikes from Lee never hit Garra, but each one of them got closer and closer. Slowly and surely, the attacks were breaking through Gaara's sand until eventually, Lee was able to strike Gaara with a powerful kick and cut his cheek open.

'_Oh crap!_' was the unified thought from the Suna team. They all know how Gaara got at the sight of blood, but there was no telling how Gaara would react to his own, as he hadn't been cut in over seven years.

They watched as Lee hit Gaara hard enough to send him flying back. The Leaf Genin cheered for their comrade. As Gaara stood, pieces of sand were breaking off, revealing a crazed smile from Gaara underneath.

Lee unwrapped the bandage wraps around his arms and began to run circles around Gaara, literally. Out of nowhere Lee appeared in from of Gaara and kicked him high into the air. While in the air, Lee wrapped the bandages around Gaara to prevent him from moving and began to pin them around as they headed back to the ground at a high speed.

A split second before hitting the ground, Lee jumped away so he would be hurt and left Gaara crashing into the concrete blocks of the arena floor. Sakura cheered, claiming Lee had won. However, Sakura was wrong. The body of Gaara began to crumble, revealing that it was only sand and not Gaara at all. As Lee stared in shock along with everyone else, a figure slowly arose behind him. Lee turned around to see Gaara behind him. Gaara blasted Lee into the wall and then hit him with a massive wave of sand. Due to Lee's use of the Lotus technique, he was unable to dodge the attack. As lee continued to get hounded by Gaara's sand, he remembered when he first became a Genin and how Gai inspired him to be a genius of had work. With that in mind he dodged the next attack, his speed having returned to him.

* * *

"It is time for the lotus to bloom twice." Gai said as Sakura questioned the return of Lee's speed.

"Gai, don't tell me you taught him…" Kakashi started to say.

"Yes, he will open the '_Eight Celestial Inner Body Gates_'." Gai said.

Kakashi then yelled at Gai for being a foolish teacher and teaching Lee the dangerous '_Extreme Lotus_'. Gai told Kakashi to shut-up and let him train his students the best way he saw fit. Kakashi asked how many Lee was able to open and was shocked when Gai told him it was five. Sakura then asked about the gates and received an explanation from Gai.

* * *

Lee burst the Life Gate open as his skin changed red. His chakra swirled around him in a rage. Lee ran so fast that his speed tore apart the concrete blocks. Everyone felt the shockwave of Lee's kick as he kicked Gaara back into the air. Lee was moving too fast for Gaara's sand to keep up. From one side to the other, Lee kicked and punched Gaara keeping him in the air. Gaara's sand armor was being punched off of him.

Seeing that Gaara was still going with his sand armor, Lee opened the fifth gate, Limit Gate. Deciding to end this, Lee punched Gaara hard towards the ground. Before he hit the ground, Gaara was grabbed by Lee's bandage wraps and forced back into the air. Lee slammed his foot and hand hard into Gaara. As they rapidly descended down to the ground, the gourd on Gaara's back began to break apart and turned into sand to help cushion the blow. As the dust settled, Lee was shown to be on his side, by the massive crater that had been made.

In the crater was Gaara, and though he was in pain, Gaara was still able to move better and faster than Lee. Gaara moved his sand over to Lee and his left arm and leg crushed by the sand. Naruto wanted to jump in, but knew it would be wrong, as Gaara had done nothing wrong. People died every year taking this exam.

Gaara sent a massive wave of sand at Gaara, intent to kill him properly. However, his sand was knocked out of the way by Gai, who jumped in front of the sand to save his student. As Gaara looked into the hard eyes of Gai, his mind began to shatter.

"Why… did you save… him?" Gaara asked in a stranded voice.

"He is my beloved comrade." Gai replied.

Gaara then got up and began to walk away as the examiner called the match in his favor. However, gasps were heard and Gai turned around to see Lee standing behind him. Even after opening five gates, doing both the Initial Lotus and the Extreme Lotus, and having his left leg and arm crushed; Lee was still able to stand. Gai started to tell Lee that the match was over, only to see that Lee was unconscious. Even now the boy was ready to prove his ninja way.

* * *

The med-nin team rushed over as Gai put Lee on the ground. Naruto silently shed an unseen tear, for he was unable to do anything. The healing technique he used to help Hinata was still in the experimental stages and he got lucky that the damage was only to her organs, which was easy for the technique to heal. Bones were another matter completely and Lee's weren't just broken; they were crushed. One of the med-nins called Gai over and said that due to the amount of injuries Lee could never be a shinobi again.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. He had never thought of Lee not being a shinobi. Who would he spar with? Who would cheer him on? Who would he cheer on? Who would be his hard working buddy? Lee had been all of those things and more.

"What's Lee suppose to do now, Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked his Taijutsu instructor. Not getting an answer, Naruto went to yell at Gai but was stopped by Kakashi, who told him to back off.

"Lee was willing to risk his life for the silent promise you, Sasuke, and Neji all made each other. To win your matches and fight in the final stage against each other. Never forget that." Kakashi told him.

'_Lee, even in the end you never realized it. The heavens will not allow someone that can only seek victory at the cost of himself to advance._' Neji thought to himself as he watched his teammate being carried away.

Kakashi apologized to Gai and reminded him that he was in the way for the final match. Gai, Naruto, and Kakashi went back to the upper level as the examiner called down the fighters for the final match, Choji vs. Dosu.

* * *

The match started with Dosu insulting Choji about his weight. In response, Choji used his family's Nikudan Sensha technique to increase his size, making him look like a giant balloon. Choji then began to roll towards Dosu, to crush him, and with his ears hidden Dosu's melody arm would have no effect on him.

Due to the slowness of the attack, Dosu kept avoiding it until Choji crashed into the wall. Dosu then hit him with his melody arm and gave the device a light tap which sent shockwaves through out his body. Choji was forced out of his technique and had passed out due to dizziness. The match then ended, with Dosu as the winner.

* * *

'_Well, on to the main event._' Sarutobi thought to himself as the med-nins carried Choji away.

The winners of the preliminary matches, minus Sasuke, stood before the Hokage and the examiners. The Hokage congratulated the winners of the preliminary matches and told them that the Third Exam would start in 6 weeks. When asked why the matches, weren't starting now, he said it was because the main matches would be seen by the whole village and several daimyos.

Sarutobi had the Genin draw slips of folded paper from a box with a number on the paper. After everyone called out their number, they were shown the order of the matches. First, would be Naruto against Neji. Next, would be Sasuke against Gaara. Then, it would be Kankuro against Shino. And finally, Temari would be facing off against who ever won the fight between Dosu and Shikamaru.

Though he was calm on the outside, inside Naruto was bursting with excitement. He was going to get to face that Hyuuga prick right off the bat and then either Gaara or Sasuke.

When asked if only one was going to get the rank of Chunnin due to it being set up like a tournament, Sarutobi said that it was so the judges could see how they performed in repeated fights and that it was possible for everyone to get the rank of Chunnin. However, it was also possible for everyone to not get the rank of Chunnin.

"Well then, thanks for all effort you showed during the trials. You are all dismissed until six weeks from now." The Third Hokage replied, dismissing the Genin.

As the Genin left the arena room Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai came forward. "We need to talk." Kakashi said to Sarutobi, Ibiki, and Anko.

"I'm in trouble aren't I?" asked Naruto.

"I'm afraid you are, Naruto." Replied The Third.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Hidden Waterfall village, a young, busty, green haired girl returned to her apartment after a successful mission. As she opened the door, she saw that there was a message scroll on her table that hadn't been there when she left. Looking at the emblem on the scroll, she noticed that it was from Konoha. '_Odd. I don't know anyone from Konoha._' She thought to herself.

After checking the scroll for traps, she broke the seal and opened the scroll to read it.

**Next chapter: Trouble and Training**

**Well, there's the fourth chapter. I hope everyone liked it. Please give it a review. Just to clear a few things up, the new people**** that have rented out apartments from Naruto will be appearing in the next chapter. Most of them will be from other animes. However, since I'm only using the character names and appearances this is not a crossover story. Also, the ramifications of Naruto having the Byakugan will come forth. After Naruto's punishment, he'll be training with Jiraiya.**

**I'm thinking of giving Sakura a bloodline limit and no, Naruto isn't going to take it. I was thinking some sort of wolf thing, since I came up with the idea around Halloween even though it's now over. Does anyone have any different ideas on what her bloodline should be?**

**Also, I want to put more people in Akatsuki, particularly women. So, I'm open to suggestions on characters to be in the organisation. Come on people, Konan can't really be the only female. Can someone point me in the direction of a good Shikamaru/Tayuya fic? I'm pairing them together, but I'm not sure how I should have them hook up. As for Tayuya joining Konoha, let's just say Naruto makes her an offer she can't refuse. Also, should Naruto get Kin?**

**In regards to Hidden Cloud being at the Chunin Exam, their was never any indication in the manga or anime that they weren't there.**

**The more feedback I get the better the chapters will be.**


	5. Trouble and Training

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 5: Trouble and Training**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Beta reader: SamJaz**

* * *

Naruto, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai stood before The Third Hokage, Ibiki, and Anko. The jounin sensei had their eyes widened in shock at what they had just been told. It was almost inconceivable what the Sandaime Hokage had said; it had to be a joke. But, with confirmation from Ibiki they knew it had to be true. Ibiki didn't have a humorous bone in his body.

"Hokage-sama, why wasn't I informed that I would be having a member of Konoha's ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit on my team?" Kakashi asked the aged leader.

"What difference would it have made Kakashi-kun?" Sarutobi asked. "You didn't need to know, so you weren't informed. This is a shinobi village; everyone has their secrets." Sarutobi explained sagely.

The four jounin knew the Hokage was right. Still, it was hard to see Naruto as a torturer.

Naruto just sighed and asked, "So, what does this mean for me?"

"Well, as I said, you will be punished Naruto." The Third explained "Normally, a shinobi would be removed from ANBU once discovered and put in solitary confinement for a minimum of two weeks. However, this isn't a normal situation and for that your punishment will be different." The Hokage withdrew some documents from his desk and looked at them. "We just received three different mission requests and you will be completing them. Each mission only takes about a week, so when you are done you will only have three weeks to train. This is not up for debate. Do you understand, Naruto?" The Third explained to the blond.

"Hai, Old Man."

"Good." The third nodded. "Now, your first mission will be in the Land of Tea. The Wasabi clan has requested a team to protect their runner in their annual Todoroki Shrine Race against the Wagarashi clan. This mission will be done by Team 7. Your team leaves tomorrow." He told Kakashi. "When you return, you will be assigned your next mission. If that's it, you are all dismissed."

The five shinobi bowed their heads and left.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sasuke had awoken from being unconscious and was looking about the room at the other shinobi from the preliminary matches. The Oto-nin, Zaku, had severe damage to his arms, but it looked like they would heal. Misumi, an older Leaf genin, looked to have his spine slowly being repaired. Ten-ten, the kunoichi from Rock Lee's team, was covered in bandages due to what looked like several cuts all over her body. Kiba had awoken and screamed at the sight of Akamaru. For some reason he was holding the dog very close. Hinata was sitting on her bed perfectly fine, but for some reason had a few med-nins looking over her vitals. He didn't see Lee, but had heard the older boy lost to Gaara and was in critical condition. On the bed to Sasuke's right was Chouji, who was passed out and mumbling something about meat.

'_Did Naruto and Sakura pass?_' Sasuke thought to himself as he didn't see his teammates in the medical ward.

"Ah Sasuke-kun, good to see that you're awake." Sasuke turned his head to see his teacher walking through the door towards him. "How are you feeling?" The scarecrow asked his student.

"Fine. How did the matches go?" He replied, wanting to know the status of his team.

"The matches were good." Kakashi told the young Uchiha. "Sakura had a double knockout, so she won't be in the third exam. Naruto however won his fight and will be." Sasuke sighed, nodding. "Also, your opponent has been chosen." Kakashi continued. "You'll be going up against Gaara from Suna."

Sasuke's eyes widened at the mention of who his opponent would be. He had heard of the ruthlessness of Gaara. He'd need to train before facing him. Hopefully, he'd be given some time.

"However, first Team 7 has a mission." Kakashi said, interrupting his thoughts.

"What is the mission?" Sasuke asked.

"The client is head of the Wasabi clan and the mission will take place in the Land of Tea. Beyond that, I don't know. You'll have to ask Naruto." Kakashi informed him.

"Why would I need to ask Naruto?" Questioned Sasuke with a raised eyebrow.

"Because as punishment for something he did, Naruto is in charge of this mission. I'll see you for your training for the Chunin Exam when you return in a few days." Kakashi said, the silver haired Jonin then began to walk towards the door, but was stopped by a question from Sasuke.

"You aren't coming with us?"

"Nope. I have things to get done and this mission is supposed to be a fairly easy one." Kakashi responded. The Jonin then went to sign the discharge papers for Sasuke.

Kakashi returned a few minutes and escorted Sasuke out of the medical ward and to the dock to the motorized boats, just outside the tower, to take them out of Training Ground 44. (**A/N: If you remember reading the manga, Anko said, to herself, that it would take the fastest genin almost 24 hours to reach the tower. So, wasn't it odd that after the preliminary matches everyone was out of there so quickly?**) During the short boat ride, Sasuke was slightly miffed that Naruto was in charge of the mission, but he let it go. After all, if anything went wrong it would be the blonde's fault.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Konoha, at one of the temples, two shinobi of sinister intentions were taking. "The preliminary matches have ended. They will start the finals in six weeks, Orochimaru-sama." The younger shinobi said to the older one, with a bow of respect.

The older, S-ranked missing-nin of Konoha wasn't paying attention to what was said; He already knew it. Instead, he was staring out at some birds on the railing of a small nearby bridge. "This place… It's become too accustomed to peace… In a time when it's said that other countries are busy strengthening their forces." Orochimaru commented almost with a sigh.

"Could we take it now?" The younger shinobi asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. It's better to wait for the best opportune moment. Although, I'm not sure if it will be much fun taking the head of that geezer." Orochimaru replied.

"Is that so?" The younger shinobi asked in a slightly condescending tone. However, it was enough for the missing-nin to pick up and narrow his eyes at the younger shinobi. "It seems to me that you are still hesitant to act, Orochimaru-sama. After this, the various Hidden Villages will be in a fight against each other in a long and intense battle. Hidden Sound will be one of them. You intend to become the trigger to all of this and Uchiha Sasuke is to be the bullet, isn't he?"

"Very intuitive as always Kabuto-kun. However, no. this will only be setting the stage. It is Sasuke that will be the trigger and Uzumaki Naruto that is the bullet. The Kyuubi child will be playing a very important part. What happens afterwards will be a revelation. Also, don't ever take that tone with me. Especially when, you couldn't even get more detailed information on the Uzumaki child." Orochimaru replied to his spy.

"Naruto-kun has turned out to be an odd one. Six months out of the academy and he's nearly a 180 turn of what his academic records say. I had thought he would have interfered with the fight between you and the others." Kabuto said.

"Yes, I thought he would have too. Well, it matters not. I'll get what I want. It seems that Kakashi has tried to seal the curse mark on Sasuke. Not that it will have any effect; as long as Sasuke keeps '_Darkness_' in his heart it will only be a matter of time. Now, you have your orders." Orochimaru said dismissing the spy.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Konoha, at Gama Inn, Temari had just walked into the lobby of the hotel to see a very pissed looking Karui sitting on the center couch of the lobby with a very wide berth around her. Walking up to her friend, Temari said, "Hey Karui-chan, I didn't see your team at the preliminary matches. I take it your team didn't make it pass the second exam?"

"No shit we didn't make it pass the second exam. Thanks to that stupid ass brother of mine, Omoi, we were disqualified, since he just had to go and open the scroll." Karui replied to the Suna kunoichi, as the girl sat down next to her.

"Sorry to hear that. So, what are you going to do?" Temari asked.

"I'm going to stay down here to cool down. A was up in our room earlier trying to kill Omoi, until Kirabi-sensei kicked me out." Karui replied with a sigh, her anger starting to leave.

"Well, I've got some news that might cheer you up." Temari told her. She then continued, "I passed my preliminary match, so I'm in the third exam."

"How does that cheer me up?" Karui asked with a slight glare to her friend.

"Do you remember that guy we watched during the second exam?" Temari asked with a sly tone.

Karui blushed at the memory. The guy, while younger looking then both of them, had been a nice piece of eye-candy for her. Sure, he wasn't tall, but he was a hottie.

"Well, that guy was in the preliminary matches and he won his fight." Temari told her.

"Once again, how does this cheer me up?" Karui asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping Temari had a point.

"Thanks to the fight we now know his name. Since he won his fight, we know he's not weak. And with me being in the finals, you can ask to stay the next six weeks and help me train, as I need help with close combat. During those six weeks, we can also learn more about this guy. That way, one of us might have a shot with him." Temari explained.

Karui thought on it for a moment, it would be nice to get the chance to run into that guy again and Temari was a good and good-looking friend. "Alright I'll help you train. Now, what's the guy's name?" She asked.

"His name's Uzumaki Naruto. He's hard to describe. At times he seemed like an idiot and at other times he was crazy smart."

"How so?" Karui asked. Temari then told her of the blond haired boy's fight. Karui had to admit that would have been a fight worth seeing.

"Well, I'm gonna go tell Kirabi-sensei that I'll be staying. He probably let me stay, as to have some time away from Omoi." Karui said as she stood up. Before leaving, she turned to face Temari and asked, "Do you want to get something to eat later?"

"Sure." Temari replied.

Karui then headed over to the elevators to go up to her team's room.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Maelstrom Apartments, Naruto was going from resident to resident and informing them that he would be gone on a mission, so collecting rent would be pushed back by a week. So far, he had informed the Buster sisters, Sonken Goei and her daughter Hakufu, Shimei Ryomou, Unchou Kanu, Ukitsu, Gentoku Ryuubi, Koudai Chinkyuu, Ekitoku Chouhi, Shiryuu Chouun, and Housen Ryofu.

Goei was a widowed, retired Jonin. She had an apartment on the sixth floor. While her daughter, Hakufu, a Chunin, had an apartment on the second floor. Hakufu's apartment was in between Ryomou and Ukitsu, who were her teammates.

Kanu was a rookie Jonin and cousin to Ryuubi, who was a Chunin. They shared an apartment on the fifth floor and lived across from Chouun. Chouun was also, a rookie Jonin and apparently a rival of Kanu's. Chouhi was Kanu's Chunin teammate and lived on the third floor.

Chinkyuu was a Chunin and lived on the forth floor along with her teammate, Royfu, who was a rookie Jonin.

Naruto had a total of 13 residents. All of them were older than him of course, but oddly they were also all female. Well, he didn't think too much on it. As long as they could pay and didn't destroy anything, Naruto didn't really care who rented an apartment from him. Having been on the receiving end of so much hatred from the village; Naruto decided he wasn't going to do that when leasing out apartments. Sure there was a small list of rules to follow, but nothing too extreme.

Currently, Naruto was on the roof relaxing on one of the lounge chairs and staring up at the clouds in the sky. He was thinking about the upcoming finals and the mission he would be leaving for soon.

"Hey Naruto-kun!" a voice to the side called, breaking him from his thoughts. He looked over to see Royfu walking over.

Royfu was a tall, tanned skinned girl of 17 with green hair that as normally tied up in two ponytails. She often wore a burgundy colored jacket that was halfway zipped up, the top was opened revealing her bountiful uncovered chest, and shorts of the same color, along with white leg warmers.

At the moment, she had her hair down and was in a small, white, string bikini. Even though winter was about to start, it was still warm enough outside to use the pool.

"Whatcha thinking about, Naru-kun?" Royfu asked as she sat down on the same lounge chair as he young landlord. Both she and Chinkyuu, had taken an instant liking to the young genin. He was nice to them, didn't charge them a lot for their apartment, and his whisker marks were so cute in Chinkyuu's opinion.

"Just the chunin exam finals in six weeks." Naruto replied as he rested his head against Ryofu's shoulder. The older girl was easy to talk to and Naruto wanted to keep a well connected and open relationship with his boarders. So, all of the residents knew about him being a genin.

That was all they knew though.

"Ah, so you made it to the finals? Congratulations then. I'll be sure to cheer for you then." Ryofu replied.

Naruto then stood up and bid Ryofu a good day and went to get ready for his mission.

* * *

As Naruto was walking to the south gate to leave for his mission, he heard the strangest assortment of words. "_Her love is like a poison. I just keep bringing it on._" As Naruto looked around, he saw that there was a tall muscular man sitting at a table just outside of a dango shop. The man was dark skinned, had a white clothed forehead protector, and a white-colored one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, a tattoo on his shoulder that said 'iron' and another one on his right cheek that was a bull's horn, he also had seven swords on his back. Looking at the insignia of the man's forehead protector he was clearly from Kumogakure. By the looks of it, he was a Jonin. He most likely had a genin team in the exams.

"Hey," Naruto called out to the man as he walked over to his table. "What was that that you were doing?" He asked.

The man looked up from his small notepad that he was writing in. "That was rap, blonde. It's the ultimate form of music to connect the hearts of people." The man replied.

"First off, the name's Naruto, not blonde. Second, it sounded good."

"Glad to see that there's a fellow music lover in this village. The name is Kirabi, gaki. As for the rap sounding good, it wasn't. It sounded like crap."

"What was wrong with it?" Naruto asked.

"It didn't connect. How can Lord Jinchuriki be the best rapper in the world if he can't even make the words connect and flow?" Kirabi replied with a slight huff.

"Well, I don't know how to connect words. But I do know, that jinchurikis aren't going to like you using are title when you aren't one of us." Naruto said to him.

"Who says I'm not a jinchuriki? I'm Kirabi, jinchuriki of Hachibi. And what do you mean us? You don't look like a jinchuriki to me."

"Well, I am. Naruto, jinchuriki of Kyuubi." Naruto replied.

Kirabi stared for a moment, before he burst out laughing. "You? You're the jinchuriki for the fox?"

"Hey I can prove it." Naruto yelled. He carefully summoned Kyuubi's chakra to his eyes and changed them from blue to red with slits.

"Not bad, gaki. Although, I never said I didn't believe you." Kirabi said as Naruto cut the chakra to his eyes.

"Then why were you laughing?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, something Hachibi said."

"You talk to yours too?" Naruto asked.

Kirabi and Naruto talked for several more minutes. Naruto learned that not only was there the jinchuriki for Hachibi in Kumo, but also the jinchuriki for Nibi in Kumo.

As Naruto walked away, Kirabi stared at his back. '_Gaki's gonna be powerful one day._' He thought.

'_**What makes you say that? He doesn't seem like much.**_' The voice of Hachibi rumbled back.

'_Because even at that age I wasn't able to summon only enough of your chakra to only change my eyes. Besides, he has Kyuubi sealed inside of him and correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you lose a horn to Kyuubi?_' Kirabi asked with a smirk.

'_**You shut up.**_' Hachibi roared back before going silent.

Kirabi just laughed to himself and turned his attention back to his work.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura soon left the village and began to head south towards the Land of Tea. The three of them arrived at the Wasabi clan mansion in Degarashi a little after dinner and were told by the clan head, a man named Jirocho Wasabi, that the Todoroki Shrine Race would determine who would be in charge of the small port city. He then told them to rest up as they would be starting the race as the sun rose the next morning.

The next morning, before the sun had even risen, Team 7 met the runner they would be guarding. He was a slightly older boy by the name of Idate. Naruto thought to boy was a pain in the ass, since he kept calling Konoha shinobi weak. Sasuke replied by asking that if Konoha shinobi were weak; why did his clan ask for their help?

Idate just ignored Naruto and Sasuke and flirted with Sakura. Later, as the sun was about to rise, the citizens of the village gathered at the shrine to start the race. Idate told them to go sightseeing as they would only slow him down.

During the announcement of who would be running, Team 7 learned the opponent's name was Fukusuke. Also, they learned the Idate's family name was Morino and not Wasabi. This had caught Naruto's attention as the only Morino he knew of was Ibiki. He'd be watching the boy closely.

The large doors then opened wide revealing two ships to take the runners across the see to the island to collect the ball, which they would then dedicate at the southern tip of the island. The runners then took off, but Idate didn't go for the ship. Instead, he ran passed the doors and turned left, running down the dock. Not knowing what this guy was planning, but knowing they had to guard him, Team 7 ran after him.

Idate continued to run along the docks and was soon running along the forest. Sakura called out to him, telling him to go back. Idate replied, saying it was stupid to go back. Idate continued to run with Team 7 hot on his heels. As they ran, Sasuke commented that he must have run this way for a reason. Idate was out of the woods and running alongside a cliff; Several times he came close to the edge. Sakura noted that it had to be a genjutsu. Idate must have noticed as well, as he stopped of a moment and did a jutsu release. He then began to run again and had went right off the cliff.

Naruto dove down from the trees and caught the boy. As they hauled him up, Naruto berated the boy for being careless. Idate told him to just shut up. Once Sasuke and Sakura had pulled them back up, Naruto told Idate to go back to Degarashi. Idate said it was a waste of time and that he was going to keep heading north, as he began to walk away. Sakura questioned Idate on his decision to go north. Idate then explained how there was a seasonal wind, which would help if he went north to make the journey across the sea.

As they followed Idate once more, Team 7 was carefully on guard. After all, someone had to have been around to cast that genjutsu. Eventually, they came to the sea shore and Idate talked to an old man. Idate had made arrangements with the man to use his boat. Soon, the four of them where out on the open sea; Sasuke at the rudder, Naruto and Sakura attending to the sail, and Idate at the front of the boat. Sakura walked over to Naruto and quietly asked what he thought of Idate. Naruto asked what she meant. Sakura then noted his training and said that he could be from a hidden village. Naruto just laughed and said that an idiot like Idate couldn't be from a hidden village. Sakura then popped him on the head, yelling that he was also an idiot. Naruto then gently reminded her, that he wasn't the one that didn't make it to the third round.

Idate turned his head around in disbelief and questioned Naruto about being in the third round of the Chunin exam. Naruto told him that both he and Sasuke were going to be in it. Idate replied, saying that the level of the Chunin exam must have gone down. Realizing he had said too much, Idate slapped his hand over his mouth.

Naruto then asked if he knew a Morino Ibiki. Idate spun around and asked how Naruto knew that name. Sasuke told him it was the name of the first examiner of the Chunin exam. Idate then asked if Ibiki was really alive; if his big brother was really alive. Naruto replied, saying that Ibiki was alive. However, before he could ask why Idate called Ibiki his big brother, they were caught in a swarm of arrows.

Team 7 engaged a group of mysterious Rain-nin in battle. Naruto guessed they had been hired by the Wagarashi clan to stop Idate from winning. Soon the boat caught on fire and they told Idate to jump ship and swim. At first, he hadn't waned to, claiming that they were just going to use him as a decoy. It wasn't until Sakura took a kunai in the shoulder, that he decided to do as they asked him and jumped ship.

With Idate swimming towards the island, Team 7 jumped into the water; making sure the Rain-nins saw them. As they swam towards Nagi Island, it seemed as if the Rain-nins weren't following them. Unfortunately, Naruto was soon pulled under. At first, Sakura thought Naruto was playing around. Sasuke told her it couldn't be that and dove under, with Sakura following him.

They saw that Naruto was trapped, with a Rain-nin holding each limb; even his head. Before they could react, Sasuke and Sakura both had Rain-nins on them and dragging them down as well. Unable to move or do anything to save her teammates, Sakura began to have her life flash before her eyes. She didn't want to die, she couldn't die; She wanted to live. For the love of Kami above she wanted to live.

Unknown to her, Sakura's bright green eyes had changed color. They were now bright pink and shining. Suddenly, a pack of wolves appeared from nowhere and began to attack the Rain-nins. The real Rain-nin eventually started bleeding from cuts made by the wolves.

With blood coming out of the wounds of the Rain-nins, the wolves converged on the real ninjas. Three of the wolves separated from the pack and pushed Team 7 up to the surface. The three wolves then guided them to the island. Seeing that the shinobi were fine, they then faded into the nothingness from whence they came.

It was at that point that Naruto noticed Sakura's change in eye color and told her about it. Sakura took out her small reflector mirror and saw that Naruto was right. She watched as her eyes changed back to green. Before they could discuss what this meant, Sasuke reminded them that they had a client to find and protect.

As they ran along the shoreline, it started to rain. They soon came across Idate on the ground, getting beating by a short green haired Rain-nin. By the looks of it, he seemed to be a jounin. As Sakura checked on Idate, Naruto and Sasuke confronted the shinobi. As they attacked, he disappeared. Thus, the boys struck nothing but air. Sasuke and Naruto snapped their heads up and saw that the nin was above them. He slashed his umbrella down at them causing a large amount of air pressure to force them down. As they were down, the shinobi declared that he was going to send them to the otherworld. He then threw several black colored senbon needles at them. He explained that the needles were of a special poison and that they would be dead in minutes. The jounin left as cheering could be heard in the distance.

Naruto pulled the needles out of his body and began to remove the poison. He summoned his clones to do the same for the others. After seeing that they were fine, Team 7 picked up Idate and went to find shelter as they waited for the boy to regain consciousness.

Idate awoke sometime later in a cave, surrounded by the members of Team 7, and asked were Aoi was. After asking if he knew Aoi, Idate told them that Aoi was his sensei in Konoha and proceeded to tell them about his life and how he had come to be with the Wasabi clan.

After telling his story, Idate wanted to give up, but Naruto wasn't going to let him. Naruto told Idate that the Wasabi clan was counting on him and if he couldn't run himself, then he would be carried. Idate yelled back saying that it was useless as his opponent was most likely already at the Modoroki Shrine; which was the halfway point in the Todoroki Shrine Race and a place for the runners to rest.

Sakura wanted to interrupt Naruto, but Sasuke stopped her, telling her that Naruto was the leader and if he decided this then that was that. After a moment of deep soul searching, Idate looked Naruto in the eyes and asked the blond shinobi to take him to the shrine. Naruto smirked slightly as he picked Idate up, placed the boy on his back and ran towards the shrine in the night rain.

Soon Naruto and Idate were at the base of the stairs leading up to the Modoroki Shrine. As Naruto climbed the stairs, Idate explained how he failed the Chunin Exam and asked Naruto about his own experience with the Chunin Exam.

Naruto explained the tenth question that Ibiki asked them and about his outburst on refusing to give up. When they arrived at the top, Idate asked to be put down. He said winning the race wouldn't mean anything if it wasn't under his own power.

Idate was soon down the stairs and heading towards the bridge that would take him to Oouzu Island. Just as he was nearing the start of the bridge, Idate felt something slash at him and an electric pain shot through his body. He fell back in pain, as he looked up; Idate saw that Aoi was standing in front of him holding the legendary Raijin no Ken; the electrical saber that was once owned by the Second Hokage.

Idate watched as Aoi cut the ropes holding the bridge in place. Idate ran at him to stop him, but was forced back by another attack. As Aoi turned to face Idate, he pulled out his umbrella to block two kunai that were thrown at him.

Idate saw that the thrower had been Naruto. The blond haired shinobi had large gauntlets on and ran at Aoi. After several blows and nearly breaking the gauntlets, Aoi had forced Naruto back. Aoi threw his umbrella into the air and with a spring loaded trap, had senbon needles rain down on Naruto. Aoi then turned to Idate and began to monologue about how he shouldn't trust others.

As Aoi kept talking, neither him nor Idate noticed Naruto carefully taking aim with his right gauntlet. With most of Naruto's gauntlet fried, he only had one shot at this. After taking careful aim, he fired one of the small metal stakes from the gauntlet.

Aoi never saw the stake coming, but he sure as hell felt it when the object went through his wrist. Unable to hold on to the Raijin no Ken, the saber fell from his hand and the electrical blade disappeared as there was no chakra to keep it summoned. Aoi turned in rage to face the blond haired genin, only to find him right on top of him. With a swing of his fist, Naruto knocked the Jonin out.

With Aoi unconscious, Naruto removed all of the Jonin's weapons and clothes; leaving him only in his underwear. He had just finished bounding the man when Sakura and Sasuke arrived. Naruto handed Aoi to them and told them to guard him as they took him back to the port. After the race, they would return the missing-nin to Konoha. Naruto and Idate then swung across as they cut the last rope on the bridge. As Naruto hit the side of the cliff, he summoned chakra into his feet and ran up the side of the cliff while grabbing Idate.

Idate had soon caught up with his opponent, who was already on the home stretch of the race. Putting everything he had into it, Idate caught up to him and was able to pull in front. Even though it wasn't much of a lead, it was still enough to give him a victory. After placing the ball to be dedicated, Idate collapsed; having spent the last of his energy.

* * *

After the festivities for the race were over the next day, a ship had arrived to take Team 7 back along with Aoi. They were greeted by Ibiki. Upon seeing him, Aoi flinched slightly. Idate called out to his brother. Ibiki just responded saying that his brother died years ago. A few hours later they were back in Konoha and giving their report to the Hokage.

"That's everything that happened, sir." Naruto said as he finished giving the report.

"That's quite the mission. Congratulations on capturing a Missing-nin. Aoi wasn't much, but he did have a bounty on his head, so you will be getting that as well." Sarutobi said to Naruto. The Third Hokage then looked down at his desk; staring at the Raijin no Ken. He picked up the handle and tossed it to Naruto.

Naruto caught the saber and looked at the Hokage. "Old man?" He asked, wondering what the Hokage was doing giving him the elemental saber of the Second Hokage.

"You want to be Hokage, correct?" Sarutobi asked him. Naruto nodded dumbly, before the Third continued, "How you use that weapon will determine if you have what it takes. Therefore, I'm giving it to you. The Raijin no Ken is now yours Naruto-kun, so use it well. Now, get some rest you'll be leaving for your next mission soon."

Naruto then left the Hokage's office and went to his apartment. Once in his room, Naruto looked down at the Immortals and sighed to himself. "There's no way these will be ready by the finals." Naruto said to himself as he placed the gauntlets on the table. He'd have to take them to Jet at The Butcher Shop, since he'd be the only one to fix them.

**Konoha**

**A few days later**

Sakura sighed to herself; There was no one for her to hang out with. Sasuke and Kakashi sensei were training somewhere, Ino was busy helping her parents. She had never really talked to Hinata, but would have liked to hang out with her. However, something was going on at the Hyuuga clan compound and she didn't want to get caught in it. Even Naruto was gone on a mission.

'_Oh, Kami. I'm actually wanting to hang out with Naruto? What is wrong with me?_' Sakura asked herself. Sighing to herself, she got up and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Seeing her eyes caused her to remember what had happened on her last mission. '_Well, I guess I could ask mom._' Sakura went down stairs looking for her mom, Haruno Cherrii.

Sakura found her mom in the kitchen fixing lunch. Cherrii was a petite woman with a large chest and long pink hair. Her eyes were as green as her daughter's; though you'd never know it with how her eyes always seem to be closed.

"Hey mom can I talk to you?" Sakura asked.

"Sure sweetie. What is it?" Cherrii replied as Sakura sat at the table.

Sakura then proceeded to tell her mother everything that had happened. At some point during her story, her mother had turned off the stove and sat next to her. When Sakura finished telling her story, Cherrii asked, "Are you sure it was a wolf?"

"Yeah, why?" Sakura asked slightly confused. Her mother was normally, a very laid back woman, but now she was deadly serious.

"Because that was your bloodline limit awakening." Cherrii replied.

Sakura gasped at what her mother had said. "What do you mean bloodline limit? We aren't a shinobi family, so we should have one."

"The Harunos haven't had anything to do with ninjas until you decided to be one. Before that, it was your great-great-great-grandfather who was the last Haruno to be a shinobi. He was also the last one to have the bloodline limit awaken in him." Cherrii said.

"Why?" Sakura asked. She had never known this part of her family.

"Because Sakura-chan, unlike other clans, our bloodline limit chooses who it will awaken in."

"Who does it chose?"

"The wolves you saw; they were not ordinary wolves. They were sea wolves. Long ago, people believed that sea wolves were the spirits of the dead reborn on earth. You have now been chosen to weld this power. I think there are some scrolls on out bloodline in the attic, I'll get them for you. Do be careful when using our bloodline, Sakura." Cherri told her.

"Why?"

"There's a reason the bloodline chooses someone and why there are so few in the Haruno clan that can use the bloodline. Using the spirits of our ancestors has been known to drive some Harunos to insanity."

As Sakura ate lunch with her mother, she thought about what she had been told. It wouldn't be good to go insane. She'd wait until she read the scrolls to decide if she should keep using the bloodline or not.

* * *

A few days ago Naruto had been sent on his second mission. It was to the Land of Birds to deal was a supposed cursed warrior. In the end it was revealed that the cursed warrior was actually the late daimyo's daughter, Toki, who had been disguising herself as her dead brother to find the murderer of both her father and brother.

It was soon revealed that the murderer was none other than Hoki, a low level thug that had disguised himself and gone under the name Moso. He had been the late daimyo's adviser and wanted the power for himself. Once the deception was revealed, he was quickly taken out and transported to Konoha for questioning and Toki's request. Toki apologized to the people for have deceived them and asked for their forgiveness. The citizens understood their new daimyo's pain and forgave her.

Naruto had been sent on the mission, as leader, with Kiba's cousin Shippo Inuzuka along with her dog partner Aoimaru and Ten-ten's slightly younger sister Rin-rin. Shippo's team had been down a member and was unable to find a replacement member in time for the Chunin Exam whereas, Rin-rin's team's sensei had kept them out for a year to train.

* * *

Temari leaned back as she propped against the tree she and Karui were resting against after training. She had to admit, Karui was a strong opponent. Temari didn't know wither to thank her bother or punch him. On one hand, he had denied her a chance at a decent fight in the preliminary rounds. On the other hand, he had assured her a victory by opening the scroll. Over the last few days Karui and Temari would end their training talking about the mysterious shinobi that was Uzumaki Naruto.

"So, what do we know about him so far?" Temari asked.

"We know he's a rookie, a member of Konoha's Team 7, and loves ramen. Other than what you originally found out, not much else is known. His skills are unknown." Karui replied as she leaned over resting against Temari. Over the past several days, Karui and Temari had grown closer. Yes, that each wanted a chance at a date with Naruto, but at the same time they both found themselves slowly drawn to each other.

With a sly grin on her face Karui continued, whispering huskily into Temari's ear saying, "We know personally that he's sexy as hell. Both of us wanting him to hold us close in that stream; as he cradles our breasts and sucks fully on the nipples of our breasts. Occasionally giving our asses a few good hard smacks."

As she listened to what Karui was saying, Temari couldn't help but get aroused. She was 15 and had never had any sort of a _couples_ relationship with anyone. So, she got aroused rather easily. Her nipples began to harden under her sweat soaked battle kimono; causing the cloth to rise slightly and show her arousal and the fact that she hadn't worn a bra that day.

'_Whoa, Tem-chan's nipples are hard._' Karui thought to herself as a blush spread across her face. She somewhat liked that she could get such a reaction from the Suna girl. Deciding to take it further, Karui slowly sled her hand under the folds of Temari's battle kimono and began to slowly knead Temari's left breast. '_Kami, Tem-chan does have huge tits._' Karui thought as Temari's breast filled between her fingers.

Temari knew what Karui was doing and didn't try to stop her, she wanted her to continue. Temari let out a moan of pleasure that was building up due to the actions on her breast. Temari then shifted towards Karui and swung her leg over the Kumo girl, effectively straddling Karui under her. '_Maybe we could share, Naruto._' Temari thought to herself as she captured Karui's lips with her own. Sure, she wanted a boyfriend, but she wouldn't say no to a boyfriend and a girlfriend.

For what felt like hours, but was actually minutes, the two girls made out. When they broke apart, Karui looked Temari in the eyes and asked, "So, what does this make us?"

"I don't know, but it makes us something." Temari replied.

**Konoha**

**One week later**

Naruto had just finished giving his report to the Hokage on his last mission. Naruto, along with Chouji and Yoshi Nara, a girl who was a slightly older cousin of Shikamaru and on the same team as Shippo, had been told that they were going to be helping a caravan of peddlers move in the Land of Vegetables. However, the caravan came under attack and soon it was revealed that one of the peddlers, Shun, was actually the removed daimyo, Haruna.

Due to a coupé staged by three brothers, Renga, Jiga, and Ruiga, against the former daimyo, Haruna's father. Naruto was able to defeat the three brothers and put Haruna back in charge. Haruna, who at first had been cold towards the Konoha shinobi but had had a change of heart towards them, asked Naruto to stay and help her in the restoration of the Land of Vegetables. Naruto had politely declined, saying he needed to get back to Konoha for the Chunin Exams.

* * *

On the way back, they had stopped at a small food stand for lunch. During the lunch, Naruto noticed a saddened man eating. Naruto went over to get acquainted with the man and discovered that his name was Chikara and was he daimyo of the Land of Udon. He was depressed, because he was in an arranged marriage to Fuku the daimyo of the Land of Yaki and wasn't sure if she was going to like him.

Naruto sat next to the daimyo and began to speak, telling that it would be hard as they were in an arranged marriage, but he had to put his best blue suede shoe forward and take a chance. Love wasn't going to come easily to a man that didn't work for it. Hearing the blond's words, Chikara began to perk up and declared that he would win the heart of his bride. The two then talked for several more hours until Chikara's guards came over and said they should be moving on if they wanted to arrive at the capital by night fall.

* * *

That had been a couple days ago. When he got back, Naruto wanted to get into his training. Sarutobi told him to go to the hot springs in a few days to meet his new sensei. In the meantime, Naruto had gone to ANBU headquarters to train. He knew Ibiki would still be busy with Aoi, not that he wasn't able to get information out of the man. But rather, wanted to make the process as slow and painful as he could for the man, so he took to training with Little Bear, As she was one of the fastest taijutsu fighters in the ANBU. Naruto would need to be faster for his match. The only problem was that Little Bear was very good at making someone her bitch. Someone like Naruto, for example.

Naruto was breathing hard as he sparred with Little Bear, their fight had gone on for nearly an hour. Little Bear barely showed any signs of fatigue, while Naruto thought he was about to collapse from the onslaught of attacks. With a grunt, he kicked his left foot out; hoping to hit her on the side of her head and daze her for a moment. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as she stopped his kick with her hand by grabbing his ankle. Little Bear then quickly twisted his ankle and slammed her fist into his knee. Hard.

Naruto's mind screamed as he felt both his ankle being twisted and his knee being broken. Little Bear then grabbed the thigh of his left leg and lifted him up into the air. Slowly, she began to spin around; gaining speed with each spin. Finally, he released him and Naruto went flying. The force was so much that the tree he was smashed into broke and fell over. A blink of an eye later, Little Bear was in front of him with her sword gently pressed against his neck.

"I give." Naruto gasped out, having lost the match.

Little Bear nodded and put her sword away. "Are you alright, Doctor?" She asked referring to his injuries.

"I'll be fine in a moment." He replied as his injuries began to heal. It hurt like fuck having the bone heal. He grabbed his leg and snapped the bone back into place with a crunch.

"I'm sorry if I was too rough, but you insisted that I take you with everything I had." Little Bear said, apologizing.

"Don't worry about it; you did exactly what I wanted you to do." Naruto replied from beneath his mask. He soon got up and hoppled to his quarters at the ANBU Headquarters, not even bothering to go to his apartment.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto left ANBU Headquarters and went to his apartment for a quick shower, change of clothes, and breakfast before going to meet this sensei at the hot springs.

Just as he was about to leave, there was a knock at his door. Opening it, he saw that Hyuuga Hiashi, Hinata, Neji, a short girl that Naruto guessed was Hinata's sister, and the Third Hokage were all standing outside his door.

"Naruto, may we come in? There are something's we need to discuss." Sarutobi asked kindly.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Naruto replied. He escorted the three into his office. Once everyone was seated, Naruto asked from behind his desk, "What do we have to discuss? I wasn't aware that I had any dealings with the Hyuuga clan."

"What we have to _discuss_, is the return of our clan's bloodline you dirty thief." Hiashi replied.

Before anyone could move, there was a blink and Hyuuga Hiashi felt the business end of a sword pressing just so on his neck. "I'd watch my words if I was you _Hyuuga_. We aren't on your compound, so your clan status means nothing here. Say that again and you will have your tongue removed." Naruto said in an ice cold voice.

Everyone in the room stared; Naruto had just made a clear threat to a clan head and in the presence of the Hokage, no less. Naruto then blinked away the sword and stared a moment before speaking. "You said I stole your clan's bloodline, even though it was freely given by choice. I presume you are here to challenge that, Hiashi-sama?"

"Yes, I do want to challenge it." Hiashi relpied through gritted teeth.

"Then, will you fight me or will you choose some to represent you?" Naruto asked.

"I will choose someone to represent me. I hear that you will be facing Neji in the first match. So, he will be my representative and the finals of the Chunin exam shall be where the challenge is to occur."

"The rules?"

"As you are not a member of the Hyuuga clan, you should not be allowed to use the Byakugan in the fight." Hiashi told him.

"Fair enough. Now, if Neji wins?"

"The Byakugan is to be removed from you." Hiashi replied sternly.

"Very well, and when I win?" Naruto asked.

"I doubt you'll win Uzumaki-san." Hiashi relied.

"Don't be so sure on that, Hyuuga-san. When I win, I'm going to make a request of your clan and your clan will follow through on it."

"And if, we don't?"

"Then the great Hyuuga clan will have its reputation tarnished and you'd never let that happen." Naruto replied smoothly.

After hammering out a few last minute details, everyone got up and left. With everyone gone from his office, Naruto headed for the hot springs to meet this supposed trainer.

* * *

As Naruto waited for this trainer Sarutobi had told him to find, Naruto decided to work on a new chakra control exercise by walking on water. Carefully gathering chakra to his feet Naruto stepped out onto the hot water. Standing on the water was much harder that it was to walk up a tree or cliff. Naruto's deep concentration was broken when he heard a perverted giggle. This caused him to lose his hold above the water and fall in. Looking around and expecting to see Kakashi, but instead seeing nothing; Naruto went back onto the water. Once again a giggle was heard and Naruto once again fell into the water. But as he fell, Naruto noticed a white haired man wearing a pair of grey pants and shirt under a red vest with red sandals; peeking into the woman's side of the hot springs.

Climbing out of the water, Naruto glared at the man's direction. "I don't know who you are, open pervert, but I'm going to shut you the hell up." Naruto yelled.

"Huh?" The man replied as he turned around and saw Naruto coming at him.

Out of nowhere a toad appeared under the man. Naruto stared, wide-eyed in surprise. He was unprepared as the toad's mouth opened and slugged him across the face with its tongue.

"Geez, keep it quiet gaki. What are you gonna do if I get caught?" The man asked.

"Who is this open pervert?" Naruto gasped out as he began to stand. As he faced the odd man Naruto said to him, "Who the hell are you? What's with the huge toad?"

"Thank you for asking. I am Mt. Myobokugama's Holy Master Sennin. Also known as, Toad Sennin. Remember it." The man yelled out.

As the toad poofed away from under the man, Naruto suppressed a shudder. This guy was strange, but strong too. "Hey you perverted sennin or whatever you call yourself, why the hell did you do that?" Naruto asked.

"Because you were getting in the way of my work."

"Work? What work?" Naruto asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Well you see, I'm a writer and I was working on…THIS!!" The man replied as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a small orange book. The same kind of book Kakashi read everyday. The same kind that was the top selling book at Naruto's bookstore. The legendary orange book, Icha Icha Paradise.

"I KNOW ABOUT THAT BOOK!! THAT'S THAT STUPID PREVERTED BOOK EVERYONE READS. ANYWAY, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY '_WORK_'? ALL YOU WERE DOING WAS PEEPING AT THE WOMEN'S SIDE OF THE HOT SPRINGS, YOU PERVERT." Naruto yelled at him.

"YOU FOOL!! I AM NOT JUST A PERVERT!! PEEPING GIVES ME INSPERATION TO WRITE A BETTER…" The man yelled back until Naruto interrupted him.

"YOU LIAR! THAT'S A COMPLETELY LAME EXCUSE!! NOW, HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO MY NEW SENSEI?" Naruto yelled at him.

The man looked around, not seeing anyone and asked Naruto, "Sensei? What sensei?"

"Well, he hasn't shown up yet. I was told by the Third to meet my trainer for the finals in the Chunin Exam here." Naruto replied.

"So, you're the brat I've been waiting for. I don't really see why I should train you." The man said.

"Nani? You're my sensei? You have to take responsibility and train me." Naruto said.

"I HATE DISRESPECTFUL BRATS!! I'AM A SENNIN, I'M NOT STUPID ENOUGH TO GET SUCKERED INTO TRAINING A SHRIMP LIKE YOU. GEEZ, WHAT AN ANNOYING BRAT." The man yelled at him.

Needing a way to get this guy to train him, Naruto went to his greatest technique. "Take this, then. Oiroke no Jutsu." Naruto called out. He was then, covered by smoke that was quickly wafting away to reveal a busty, pig-tailed girl in the nude. "How about this?" Naruko asked in her sexy voice.

"I LIKE YOU!!" The man yelled out.

'_He's a dumbass…_' Naruto thought to himself in his Naruko transformation.

"What is this jutsu?" The man asked excitedly.

"Well, I call it Oiroke no Jutsu, but…" Naruto replied slowly.

"Oh, what creativity; to come up with a technique like that. You're a genius." The man replied.

"So, does this mean you'll help in my training?" Naruto asked in his sexy's cute voice.

"Yes, but there's a condition." The man replied.

"Condition…? What?" Naruto asked, still cute.

The man gave a grin and replied, with a blush on his face, "In my presence… You must always be like that…"

Naruto's eyes deadpanned and he dropped the henge. "Inspiration, my foot. You're just a pervert, you nasty sennin."

"That's not true. I'm not just a pervert. I am… A SUPER PERVERT." The man replied yelling the last bit out.

'_This guy is crazy…_' Naruto thought to himself.

"It's just a joke gaki. I'll oversee your training. Continue doing what you were doing earlier." The man told him.

As Naruto walked back onto the water, the white-haired man said. "If you want to stay on top of the water, you need to be constantly channeling your chakra to your feet. The water keeps changing, so therefore your chakra must also keep changing." Doing as the man said, Naruto kept carefully channeling the chakra in his feet. A moment later, he realized that he was finally staying on top of the water.

"Good job, gaki. Now, get over here." The man called out.

As Naruto walked over he asked a question had wanted to know, "So, what's your name Ero-sennin?"

The man stared wide-eyed at Naruto's disrespect. "Don't call me that gaki. The name's Jiraiya." He replied.

Getting serious and looking Naruto dead in the eye and asked, "You know with your tenant in you, that you have two types of chakra right?"

"Yeah, but how do you know about the fox?" Naruto asked growing suspicious.

"I know because, one, I'm old enough and, two, I'm the man that taught the man that sealed the fox into you." Jiraiya replied.

Naruto stared, wide-eyed. "You mean…"

"Yes, I was the Fourth Hokage's sensei. I taught the Fourth everything I knew. Now, I have been asked by Sarutobi-sensei to teach you on how to control the foxes chakra." Jiraiya told him.

"Well, I'm able to control some of it." Naruto replied.

"You don't control it well enough. That's why I'm going to be teaching you two techniques to help you, starting tomorrow. Rest up and meet me back here early tomorrow morning." Jiraiya told him.

* * *

The next day, Jiraiya and Naruto were in the forests of Konoha, by a stream and waterfall. "Now, gaki, the two techniques I have to teach you are Toton Jutsu and Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Jiraiya told him.

They first began work on the Toton Jutsu. After a few hours of training on it, Naruto was able to make himself look transparent, like a ghost, but not invisible. It was then time to work on summoning.

Jiraiya called the toad that kept the contract to him and had Naruto sign it. After practicing the hand seals a few times, Naruto tried to real thing. With a yell, he slammed his hand on to the ground and a poof of smoke appeared. As the smoke cleared, a small orange toad was staring back at him. Naruto learned that this toad was Gamakichi and was one of the children of the boss summon, Gamabunta. After dismissing Gamakichi, he tried again and got another small toad; this toad was named Gamatatsu and was another one of Gamabunta's children.

Naruto and Jiraiya spent the next couple of days working on each jutsu and everyday he'd get better and better at the Toton Jutsu. Soon, he had mastered it and was able to make himself completely invisible. The work with the summoning hadn't gone so well. So far the largest toad he had summoned had been the size of a dog.

* * *

Deciding to force Naruto to summon something bigger, Jiraiya knocked the boy down a deep trench. As Naruto fell, he tried to grab hold of the rocks, but kept slipping off. Eventually, he wound up in his mind and talked with Kyuubi. After a quick conversation between the two, Naruto preformed Kuchiyose no Jutsu and was able to put more of the fox's chakra into it.

On top of the trench, Jiraiya heard the summons's yelling and decided to run. There was no need for him to be there when the summon came up top. Besides, there was research to do.

Naruto soon found out that he had summoned the boss toad, Gamabunta, and that Gamabunta was pissed. Apparently, the toad didn't like being summoned while falling down a trench and refused to see Naruto has his summoner. So, a challenge was proposed. As it was still early morning, Naruto had to stay on Gamabunta's head all day without falling off.

* * *

After spending the whole day staying on Gamabunta's head and passing out at the end. Naruto was brought to the hospital. The next day, as he was waking up, Naruto was visited by Shikamaru. The two talked for a moment, before they felt the presence of a killing intent. Following it, they found the Suna shinobi Gaara in Lee's room. Lee was resting and Gaara looked like he was about to kill him.

As they spoke, Naruto realized that Gaara was the same as him. He would have turned out this way had no one acknowledged him, just as no one acknowledged Gaara. Naruto came to the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to beat Gaara. Just as it seemed as though they were about to be killed, Gai stepped in. Gaara gripped his head in slight pain and left, saying that he would kill them.

**Konoha**

**3 days until the finals**

Naruto sighed to himself as he popped his back. He was in the forest by himself, as Jiraiya had told him to relax the last few days before the finals so he wouldn't stress out. Naruto though, had decided to do a little light training. He took a small metal pot and filled it with coal. As he was filling it and packing it in, Naruto noticed the foxes had started to gather around him. From the memories of his clones he knew that foxes kept gathering around him in the forest and more seemed to keep showing up. From what he was able to count there was 28 foxes. Eight of them were adults and the remaining twenty were kits.

'_I guess they sense Kyuubi in me._' Naruto thought to himself.

'_**I don't think so, brat. I'm sealed in you and unless you use my chakra they can't sense me.**_' Kyuubi replied.

'_Then why are they gathering around me?_' Naruto asked.

'_**I don't know, nor **__**do**__** I care. Maybe it has something to do with you.**_' The fox replied.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and went back to work. The foxes didn't bother him, so he wasn't going to bother them.

With the pot full, Naruto lit the coal on fire. Once a good steady flame was going, Naruto punched the coal. Over and over he punched at the coal. The point for this exercise for most people was to punch it fast enough to not get burned. However, for Naruto it took on a different meaning. He punched it just enough to get burned and force his healing factor to take effect; making the healing process faster than normal.

Naruto continued his training for several more hours until nightfall. He then returned to his apartment and went to sleep after several of the residents said they'd cheering for him and wished him luck with the challenge from the Hyuuga clan. Since it had been decided, the challenge of the Byakugan had become public knowledge and had spread through the village like wild fire.

* * *

The next day, Naruto was just messing around the village he spent the day just wondering around. Earlier, he had bought some new weapons from jet. Naruto's own weapon shop would soon be opening; he was able to find a skilled weapon's crafter by the name of Cattleya. The name of the shop was to be The Fox Fang. Naruto had sent letters to Roshi, Han, Fu, Kirabi, and Yugito. They jinchuriki had to stick together.

Seeing that he was in the hot springs district, Naruto decided to take in a nice soak. '_A nice relaxing soak would be nice._' He thought to himself as he went inside.

* * *

Meanwhile, Temari and Karui had grown closer from hat day on the training field. They had decided to be friends with benefits. Karui was to go back to Kumo the next day, so they were spending the day around the village just hanging out.

"Hey, you want to go and relax in the hot springs?" Karui asked.

"Sure." Temari replied.

The two girls then walked for towards the hot springs district.

* * *

Looking around the hot spring, Naruto saw that it was empty for being Mixed Bathing Day. Seeing no harm in it, Naruto did a few hand seals and yelled out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." When the smoke cleared Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, stood before him. After giving them both a small piece of candy, Naruto said, "Hey you guys want to soak in the hot springs with me?"

"Sure." The toad brothers cried out. Getting to soak in a hot spring was a rare treat for them.

With a big towel around his waist and going down to his knees, Naruto climbed into the hot springs. "This is great Naruto-nii-chan." Gamatatsu said happily.

"Yeah it is. I've been so busy with training, that I've hardly had time to enjoy the simple things of life." Naruto replied.

The three talked for a couple of more minutes, enjoying the pleasure of the hot spring and good company. Naruto then, reclined his head back and closed his eyes.

* * *

Temari and Karui walked towards the entrance to the hot spring. They had changed out of their normal shinobi clothes and were wearing towels over their large chests and slender figures. Temari had taken her hair out of her four pony tails and now her hair was down to just above her shoulders. Karui red hair was now free from her bandana forehead protector, allowing her bangs to fall in front of her forehead.

Temari opened the door and stepped onto the small wooden porch outside. As she looked around, she noticed that someone was already in the hot spring. Looking closer, Temari saw that it was Naruto, the guy they had been looking for. '_What sweet luck._' She thought to herself as she nudged Karui.

"What?" Karui asked as she felt Temari nudge her.

Pointing to the blonde, Temari said, "It's him, Naruto. The guy we've been looking for."

Looking closer at the blonde boy in the hot springs, Karui saw that Temari was correct. "So, what do you want to do?" She asked.

"We should get to know him." Temari replied, as she walked forward to join the blond in the hot spring. Karui, quickly following her.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, as he heard someone approaching. Looking over, he saw Temari and Karui standing just outside the water. He know both from when he had asked to see their papers as the Doctor, but no one was supposed to know who the Doctor was. So, he could only know Temari; as he had seen her in the preliminary matches.

"Hey, mind if we join you?" Temari asked.

"Not at all. Come on in. Temari, right?" Naruto replied.

The two girls stepped into the hot water and walked towards him. "Yeah, that's me." Temari answered.

"So, who's your gorgeous friend?" He asked indicating to Karui.

"The name's Karui." Karui said, answering for herself. As she sat next to Naruto she looked at him and said, "So, you're the Naruto I've been hearing about."

"What have you been hearing about me and how can I hear about the two of you?" Naruto asked the buxom beauties.

"We've just been hearing this and that." Temari answered.

"You hear about us anytime you want." Karui replied.

"Well, the only problem is which one of you do I hear about?" Naruto asked, while stroking his chin in a thinking manner.

"We don't mind being both heard about, Naruto-san." Temari replied.

Naruto was gently blushing along with the girls; he'd never had a chance with any girl before. Well, that was due to his stupid fixation on Sakura. But now, he was having two foreign exotic beauties flirt with him. Before he could reply though, a small wooden bucket sailed through the air and smashed into his face.

Karui and Temari's eyes widened in surprise, seeing Naruto get hit. "NARUTO-BAKA, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING ON THE WOMEN'S SIDE OF THE HOT SPRING?" A voice at the entrance yelled. They looked at the entrance and Temari saw that it was that Sakura and Ino girls from the preliminary matches.

"Oh great, it's the fan-girl kunoichis." Temari muttered to Karui.

"Hey Sakura. Hey Ino. What's up?" Naruto asked.

"DON'T YOU '_WHAT'S UP?_' ME YOU DAMN PERVERT." Sakura yelled.

"First off, I'm not a pervert. Second, I'm not on the women's side. Today is Mixed Bathing Day for this hot spring." Naruto told his pink haired teammate.

"Mixed Bathing Day?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, there's a sign out front didn't you see it?" The blond shinobi asked.

Ino shook her head no, as they had not seen the sign.

"Oh well. Anyway, will the two of you stop shouting? You're disturbing the sweetness of the hot spring for the five of us in the hot spring." Naruto said. This statement caused Temari, Karui, Ino, and Sakura to look around. No of them could see anyone else in the hot spring.

"Naruto, no one else is in the hot spring with us." Temari said.

"Yes, there is." Naruto said to the Suna kunoichi and pointed just to the other side of Karui.

Karui looked down next to her and saw the floating toads Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. "Hey, what's up?" Gamakichi asked, while waving a webbed foot at her. It was at this point that Karui's great fear of frogs and toads kicked in, as she let out a blood curling scream and jumped onto Naruto.

Naruto was surprised at the sudden weight on his shoulders. Karui has wrapped her chocolate legs around his head and was gripping his hair with her fingers. He had to admit, it was nice, but it would be best if he headed this off before it got out of control. "Karui, could be please stop screaming?" Naruto asked in a loud voice.

Temari had her hand over her mouth, trying desperately to keep her laughter in. Only yesterday did she learn of Karui's fear of frogs and toads.

Ino and Sakura stared as they saw the tall, black skinned girl get on top of Naruto. Neither of them could see what was so terrifying about some little toads.

Karui quieted down as Naruto gently pried her off of him and placed her between himself and Temari. "As much as I enjoyed you being on top of me Karui, I think I'm supposed to take you to dinner first." Naruto said.

Karui blushed slightly, knowing which part of her body had been close to the younger boy.

"Now, there's no need for you to be scared of my summons. Though the toads are powerful, they won't mindlessly attack people." Naruto told her.

Karui peered around Naruto staring at the toads. She may not like them, but she'd give Naruto a chance at being trusted.

"What's up with the frogs, Naruto? They don't look that great." Asked Ino.

"They aren't frogs. They're toads. I signed the toad summoning contract. Don't underestimate the power of the toads, Ino. With the toads, the summoner strength increases exponentially. I've only been summoning for two weeks and already I've mastered one of the legendary toad attacks capable of taking out an entire army." Naruto told the platinum blond girl.

"Really? Somehow, I doubt that." Sakura told him.

"Do you want to see it then?" Naruto asked her.

Karui nodded her head, wanting to see what Naruto could do first hand. Temari wanted to learn more about his attacks, in case she was ever up against them. Sakura and Ino shrugged their shoulders and nodded their heads.

"Well, here it is… **TOAD-TO-FACE JUTSU!!**" Naruto said, yelling out the last part. He had grabbed Gamakichi and Gamatatsu and threw them at Sakura and Ino. Gamakichi landed on Sakura's face and Gamatatsu landed of Ino's face.

The two girls waved their arms around haphazardly as they ran around, trying to get the toads off.

Temari and Karui stared at the scene, deadpanned, and sweat dropped.

"Uh, Naruto that's just stupid." Karui said to the boy.

"Wait just a moment." Naruto said as he looked at Sakura and Ino.

Temari and Karui watched as Sakura and Ino ran into each other, effectively knocking each other out.

"Well, this has been great and I'd love to stay longer, but they'll be up soon and want to kill me, so I best be leaving as quickly as I can. I had a nice talk with you ladies, but next time it should be Temari that jumps me. I wouldn't want the two of you to think I'm playing favorites over the two of you." Naruto said as he stood up, bidding Temari and Karui good-bye and rushing out.

Temari had a small blush on her face, along with Karui. "Well, those abs are real." Karui said from her side.

Temari turned to face her girlfriend. "How would you know?" She asked.

Karui care her girlfriend a smirk and said, "I wasn't just screaming my head off when I got on top of him."

Realizing what she meant, Temari smirked. "Oh, that's good. That's real good."

The next day, Karui left to head back to Kumo. Naruto spent the day resting and stretching his muscles for his match against Neji. Temari and her brothers went over last minute details with their sensei.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, stood on top of the Hokage Tower and watched as the daimyos entered into the village to watch the finals for the Chunin Selection Exam. He knew that his traitorous student Orochimaru was planning something and what ever that something was, was going to happen during the finals. There was also the much anticipated bout between Naruto and Neji. Lives would be changed with the result of that match. "The time has finally arrived." He said to himself as he turned on his heel and headed to the arena.

Naruto quietly walked thorough the forest towards the arena. He had stopped by his team's training ground for a moment and had met Hinata. After a brief and quick conversation with her he left for the arena. As he walked along amongst the trees, Naruto looked around him. Not seeing anyone, he formed his signature hand seal and said, "Kage Bunshin." The poof of 7 shadow clones greeted his ears. When the smoke cleared, Naruto looked at his clones. They weren't dressed as he was. Instead, the clones were wearing his traditional outfit for the ANBU Headquarters. "You guys know what to do?" He asked his clones. The clones nodded silently in response. "Then get to it and remember, no one is to discover you." Naruto told them. The seven clones disappeared in a blur.

(**A/N: I'm not going to be covering the fight between Naruto and Neji. It's going to happen the same why it did in the manga. Only the ending of the match will be different. That's were I'll pick up from the match.**)

The clones quickly and quietly jumped through the trees making their way to the Hyuuga compound. The clones stopped outside the stone wall fence of the Hyuuga compound and activated their Byakugan. Looking through the compound they saw that no one was there.

"Why is no one here?" Asked one of the clones.

"With the match between that jerk and the original, there's no way any Hyuuga would miss it. They're all most likely at the arena to see the outcome of the match." Another replied.

"Yeah. Well, let's get moving. We need to be quick. There's no guarantee that the Hyuuga's will stay after the fight is over." A third clone spoke up. He and another clone formed a trampoline with their hands and hand the rest bounce over the wall. When it was just the two of them left, He grabbed the other clone and bounced him up into the air. The clone that was thrown caught the top of the wall and hung there for a moment, letting the other one climb up. They then jumped over the wall and joined the rest.

With all of them inside the compound, the clones ran towards the manor. As they entered the manor, one of them began giving orders. "Spread out and search. We need to find anything we can about the Byakugan. The original may not be able to use the Byakugan in his fight, but he could use a way around it." The clones then separated. One headed to Hiashi's bedroom. Two others went to the Hyuuga library. The next two went to search the rooms of the Hyuuga elders. The final two clones went to the clan's meeting room.

As quickly as they could they searched through the rooms and the books, looking for any information on the Byakugan. Over the next few minutes, they discovered many things. First was that Hinata looked exactly like her mother. Second, any Hyuuga not part of the main house was branded with a curse seal. Third was why they had the curse seal. Fourth was when they discovered the Byakugan had two blind spots. It wasn't able to see below the surface of the earth or at an angle to the user's neck. The final thing, and maybe the most useful of all, was how to remove the curse seal.

The clones quickly memorized the removal of the curse seal and made their way outside of the compound. Every thing was left exactly as they had found it. No one would ever be able to say Naruto had been there, as witnesses would see him in the middle of his fight with Neji. Nodding to each other, the clones dispelled themselves; sending the information they had learned to the original Naruto.

* * *

Back at the arena, Naruto himself was in a bit of a bind. Neji was faster than Naruto though he would be. After getting his chakra pathways sealed, Naruto reopened them using Kyuubi's chakra. The two collided and flew back. As the smoke and dust filled the arena area, Naruto received the information from his clones. Quickly Naruto assessed the information from his clones and what Neji had told him in their fight. '_No wonder Neji is so pissed and going on about fate. Well, time to change his fate._' Naruto thought to himself and quickly formed a plan.

Neji walked over and stood on shaky legs in front of the small crater that Naruto's body had made. "Loser… You never stood a chance of beating me. This is reality." He said to the unconscious Naruto.

Neji and everyone else in the arena weren't prepared for what happened next. From under Neji, a hand reached out and pulled hi down into the ground. Leaving only his head above the dirt. Neji tried to get free, but found himself unable to do so. A few feet from him, a hand emerged from the earth. Soon it was joined by another and soon Naruto was crawling out of the ground. The blond haired shinobi walked over and stood in front of Neji. "What are you going to do?" Neji asked. Since they were close to the audience, everyone in the stands could hear what they were saying.

"I told you, you weren't going to win. I just never said _how_ I was going to beat you. I've decided to kill your destiny." Naruto said in an ominous monotone voice. He raised his hand high above his head and blinked Kubikiri into his hand.

The people began to fidget in their seats. Was there going to be a '_win by death_' in the third round of the exam? There hadn't been a single death in the tournament round in years. They watched as the Uzumaki child swung the blade down. As the blond reversed the large butchering sword and flicked it back up. The curved tip had caught the Hyuuga's forehead protector and forced it off. The audience was stunned; not even a scratch was on the pale forehead of the Hyuuga boy.

Naruto slammed Kubikiri into the ground and summoned his chakra as he began to do the new hand seals that he had just learned. "Well, Neji, I hope you've enjoyed your destiny." Naruto said coming to the last few seals.

The Hyuuga's in attendance looked on in shock and horror. How? How could the village freak know that? The Hyuuga elder's tried to call out, but it would be futile.

"SAY GOOD-BYE TO YOUR DESTINY, HYUUGA NEJI!!" Naruto yelled out as he slammed his index fingers on the outer side of the seal and pressed his thumbs upon the center of the curse seal. "UNSEAL!" Naruto cried out.

Everyone, shinobi and civilian alike, stared down at the genin. They watched, speechless as the markings of the Hyuuga curse seal disappeared from the boy's forehead. With the markings gone, he was free. A branch member, of the Hyuuga clan, without the seal.

The Hyuuga elders were furious. They had spent years building their perfect rules, becoming the most prestigious clan in Konoha. But now, in one fell swoop, the demon brat had changed all of that.

Naruto looked down at Neji, who was still buried in the earth. He bent down and pulled the boy up by his shoulders. Not letting Neji go, Naruto stared at him right in the eyes and said, "Look into my eyes Neji and tell me, what is your destiny?"

Neji looked into Naruto's eyes. He could see his reflection in the eyes, but what he couldn't see was the curse seal. It was gone, but it shouldn't be. Everything he had believed in, was now gone. There was no reason anymore, no reason for the hate. His destiny was nothing. "Nothing," Neji replied to Naruto, for that was it.

Naruto mentally nodded his head. This was going to cause a lot of problems, but if Neji had gotten his stick pulled out of his ass it would be alright. Releasing his right hand and pulling his hand back, Naruto let his fist come forward in a bit of a half circle giving Neji a hard, well placed upper cut to the Hyuuga's chin. At least no one would be able to say Neji gave him the match. Naruto then blinked Kubikiri away, no longer needing it.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto." The examiner called out.

For a moment no one moved. Then, slowly, people began to cheer. The cheering grew louder and louder, almost to a deafening roar.

Naruto just blushed slightly, having never been so highly praised before.

* * *

"YEAH!! GO NARUTO!" Sakura yelled out in support of her teammate.

"I can't believe that Naruto actually won." Ino said next to her. Who would have thought that the '_dead last_' at the academy could beat last year's Rookie of the Year? Ino, hearing several loud cheers coming a few aisles over, nudged Sakura to get hr attention.

Sakura turned to her friend and asked, "What?"

Ino pointed to a group of young, busty women and said, "Do you know any of those girls? Because they all seem to know Naruto by their cheering."

Sakura looked at the girls and realized that her rival was right. She wondered if Naruto knew them somehow. Although, he had never mentioned knowing anyone outside the team before.

Soon the cheering stopped and the next was preparing to start. The only problem was that Sasuke hadn't arrived yet.

* * *

After a quick recess, it was decided that the match between Sasuke and Gaara would be put off for the last round. So next was Kankuro against Shino. At least it would have been, if the Suna puppet user hadn't forfeited the match. So the third match, Temari vs. Shikamaru, was called to start.

Being the ever lazy guy he was, Shikamaru tried to get out of the match. Unfortunately, for him, he got pulled into fighting. For a while, it seemed as if neither of them had the upper hand. For every attack Temari threw, Shikamaru was able to counter it and Temari stayed moving and far enough away, so that Shikamaru couldn't get his shadow to connect to Temari's. In the end Shikamaru was able to capture her with his shadow, but gave up the match.

Now, everyone was waiting for the start of Gaara against Sasuke. However, Sasuke and Kakashi had yet to show up. Just as Gaara was about to win the match by forfeit, Kakashi arrived with Sasuke. The Jounin then got out of the way and the match got under way.

For a while it seemed a bit like the fight between Gaara and Lee, after Lee had taken off his weights, Sasuke's speed was incredible. He was easily going 3 times his normal running speed. Eventually, Gaara wrapped himself into a ball of sand. Sasuke tried hitting the sand and saw that none of his attacks were working. Jumping back from the sudden sand spikes, Sasuke ran up the wall.

Once he was at the top of the wall, he began to form hand seals. Lighting began to gather in his hands. Sasuke ran down the wall, faster than before just tearing the structure up. With a yell of 'CHIDORIIIII!!', Sasuke slammed his fist into the sphere of sand.

* * *

Naruto, who had joined Sakura, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Kakashi, Gai, Lee, and brought Shikamaru with him, said, "Well, this isn't good."

"Relax Naruto-kun." Kakashi told his student.

"Yeah, Naruto-baka. Sasuke-kun isn't going to lose to him." Sakura said with Ino nodding her head in agreement.

"Sasuke isn't going to lose. **He's going to be slaughtered.**" Naruto replied, his voice becoming rougher. The seven genin and two Jounin looked up at the blond shinobi. The eyes of the genin widened at the fact that Naruto's eyes had taken such a drastic change.

They were no longer the sky blue eyes of a boy with a good prank on his mind. Or even the ice cold blue eyes he seemed to get when he took something serious. These eyes were blood red with silted pupils. Kakashi and Gai's eyes widened at what Naruto was doing.

"Naruto?" Kakashi question.

"**Yeah?**" Naruto asked.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked trying to keep his voice calm.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, like he was thinking for a moment, before replying, "**Yeah, I feel perfectly fine. I'm just getting pumped for my match against **_**it**_**.**"

"Do you mean Gaara, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"**No. I mean the thing inside Gaara. In a moment, Gaara will be gone and **_**it**_** will be here. Listen.**" Naruto told her.

Everyone looked out into the arena and carefully listened. They didn't have to wait long as they were greeted by an almost insane yell.

"**WHAAA… BLOOD! MY BLOOD!!**" Came the voice of Gaara from with in the sand.

"**Listen to that sweet serenade. Oh, **_**it's**_** coming.**" Naruto said.

Sasuke had charged up another chidori and broke free. As he looked at the sphere, a suddenly massive killing intent erupted from it. But a series of cracks began to form on the sphere casing it to brake. As the sand flowed down, a wounded Gaara was revealed.

"Guess he can't call it out cause of his injury." Naruto said, his eyes and voice returning to normal.

Suddenly, golden feathers began to drift down from the sky and Naruto felt his eyes getting heavy. '_This is a genjutsu. I've got to release it._' He thought to himself as he formed the seal and said, "Kai."

Sakura also could tell there was a genjutsu trying to put her to sleep. Quickly dispelling the genjutsu, she looked around to see what was going on.

* * *

Meanwhile, up on the kage box, the Kazekage, leader of Suna and father to the Suna siblings team, turned his head to look at the Hokage. At the same time, the Third Hokage turned his head and looked at the wind shadow. Both of them, leaders of their people and seen as the strongest in their respective villages. They knew what was about to happen and there was no way to stop it. Not that the Kazekage would stop it.

"Let it begin." The Kazekage in almost a whisper. His two body guards rushed forward, tossing smoke bomb canisters.

The explosion of smoke caught the attention of the shinobi that were able to dispel the genjutsu. "HOKAGE-SAMA!!" Several yelled out.

**Konoha**

**Outside the village walls**

Several shinobi were running fast along the forest floor. They were clothed in grey and black camouflage. Each one of them wearing an Oto forehead protector, showing their allegiance to the Hidden Sound village.

"That's the signal. Let's move out. Do not fail Lord Orochimaru." The man in the front yelled out, before jumping high into the air.

At another place, in the forest, several Suna shinobi were gathered around a massive seal and pumping it full of chakra. Each one of them took the scroll they had been holding and raised it above their heads, before slamming it into the ground. The massive spike of chakra released shook the earth.

**Konoha**

**Village Arena**

As the earth was shaking, the ANBU ran towards the kage box, to protect the Hokage.

Naruto looked around, he could feel the spike of chakra and massive waves of chakras coming towards the village.

"W-what's going on?" Asked Sakura in a frightened voice.

"It's an invasion." Naruto replied, grimly. All mirth and happiness gone from his voice.

**Next Chapter: INVASION**

**Well, there was chapter 5. I hope my readers enjoyed it. Please review, even if it's just to say that you liked it. My OCs Yoshi Nara, Shippo Inuzuka, and Rin-rin graduated from the academy 6 months after Team Gai and six months before the Rookie 9.**

**I'll be extremely busy, until the New Year. However, I do have a date for the next update. The next update will be of January 22, 2010. I'll be uploading 3 chapters that day.**

**If anyone has any ideas on what they'd like to see in the story, send me a PM.**


	6. Invasion

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 6: Invasion**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

(**A/N: a lot of what happens at certain parts in this chapter happens simultaneously.**)

As the smoke from the kage box rose, Gai and Kakashi made to move towards the Hokage. The two jounin stopped when they several black blurs jump over them and move toward the kage box.

"ANBU." Kakashi said as he watched the masked-nins move.

* * *

The ANBU squads met on top of the roof of the arena central seating, in front of the kage box. The white cloaked captain said to the other squad, "2nd squad, take the top. 6th squad, take the bottom. Bear squad, should soon be en route here to secure the area." With their orders given, the ANBU of 6th squad jumped down into the audience below.

"Protect the daimyos." The captain yelled as the squad jumped down. As he quickly turned to face the kage box, he saw that the Suna team was jumping over the wall. '_Oh well,_' he thought. '_No time to question it._' They ran towards the kage box. As they ran, from out of the smoke came the Kazekage's body guards. The two guards pulled out kunai. "Get out of the way." The captain yelled, rushing forward at incredible speeds and slicing the guards in half. The Suna-nins fell, cut cleanly in half.

* * *

Temari and Kankuro jumped into the arena once the smoke began to erupt. The Uchiha boy had his face turned towards the kage box when it started. They tried to cautiously get Gaara out of the arena. After getting orders from their sensei, Kankuro grabbed his younger brother and hoisted Gaara's arm over his head as he and his sister jumped over the wall. After talking with the examiner, Sasuke jumped out of the arena and began to run after the Suna siblings.

* * *

Mere seconds after the smoke covered the Kages, the Hokage's body guard was littered with kunai. With the man's dying breath, he looked at his Hokage and said, "Hokage-… sama… please… run…" He then slumped over dead. As the Kazekage's body guards ran forward, Sarutobi was grabbed by the Kazekage from the neck.

The Kazekage jumped out of the smoke and onto the small roof, behind the kage box, with the Hokage as a hostage. The severed bodies of the two Suna guards began to twitch. From their corpses came four different looking people. One was a guy with six arms. Next, was a guy with silvery-grey hair with an odd object sticking out of the back of his neck. Then, a girl with red hair and a foul mouth. Finally, a large guy with short orange hair. Each of them had an Oto forehead protector on.

The ANBU made to jump to the roof, but as they jumped the Oto shinobi clasped their hands together and said, "Ninpou, Shishi Enjin!" The Kage's were quickly enveloped in a dark violet colored shield.

Not knowing what the shield was, but knowing they had to get to the Hokage the ANBU continued forward in their jump. It was only when they saw the first guy to reach the barrier burst into flames, that they stopped and jumped down. This was not a good sign.

The two kages talked for a moment, before the Kazekage seemed to rip his face off and revealed himself to be Orochimaru.

Just after seeing the barrier raise and the snakes in the distance, Kakashi and Gai, started to head down the steps. They stopped as a black cloaked ANBU jumped in front of them. It only took them a moment, but it soon became clear that this ANBU wasn't an ANBU, but was an enemy. As if to confirm their thoughts, several Oto shinobi gathered around him.

* * *

Over at the academy, academy instructor Umino Iruka was in a slight rut. For the last several months he and Mitarashi Anko had been dating, but for the past month she had been a bit on edge. Which wasn't a good sign; with Anko. '_Could she be pregnant?_' the scared chunin asked himself. Iruka was brought out of his thinking, when he looked outside the window and saw smoke rising, from where the village arena should be. A second later, rumbling could be heard.

"Everyone I want you to stay in your seats. It's now study time. I need to step out for a moment, but I'll be right back." Iruka said, right before he rushed out of the room and ran down to the teachers' office.

* * *

Ibiki and his men stood on top of one of the buildings, looking at the arena in the distance.

"Should we go as back up, sir?" One of the men asked.

"No. It would be foolish of us to move before we had a clear idea of what's happening. Besides, Hokage-sama has the ANBU with him and he can't be beating so easily. Even if, his opponent is Orochimaru." Ibiki replied in a monotone voice.

"Who is this Orochimaru guy?" The man asked.

"He was once a student of the Third's." Ibiki replied.

"Then how did he become a missing-nin?"

"When the decision for the Fourth was being decided, the Third didn't choose him. Soon after that, he left."

"So, he's here for revenge?"

"Most likely." Ibiki answered with a shrug. Looking into the distance, Ibiki continued, "I saw him once, as I child. I remember being so afraid of him and I thought to myself, that he wasn't human but something that took the shape of a human."

Each one of the men was slightly shaken by this. Nothing ever made Ibiki scared. Ibiki was the man to make people scared, not the other way around. Whoever this Orochimaru guy was, he had to be one terrifying man to scare Ibiki.

At that moment, a scout appeared in front of them. "Reporting in sir, large snakes have broken through the eastern wall and with them, nearly 250 Suna shinobi have come through."

"Alright, we'll leave squad 1 and 3 here." Ibiki said. He then turned his head back and looked on the roof of the building behind him. Standing there were three cloaked ANBU members. Unlike normal ANBU cloaks, which were solid black, these were black with two red slashes going diagonally across from the right shoulder to the left hip. Both lines parallel to each other.

"Bear squad, get to the arena and secure the area." Ibiki ordered to them.

With a nod, the three female figured ANBU's disappeared.

* * *

Naruto stared when he saw that the Kazekage was actually Orochimaru and not really the Kazekage. '_So, that's Orochimaru? Hmm, not what I thought he'd look like. Where's the real Kazekage, though?_' Naruto wondered to himself.

Naruto was so wrapped in his thoughts, that he barely noticed movement to his left. The keyword of course is, barely. Naruto saw the 4 Sound-nins descending down upon him and the rest just in time. He blinked Kubikiri into the air, right where the nins were going to be, and flicked out his hand, attaching chakra strings to the sword. With a slight wave of Naruto's wrist, the sword shot forward and impaled three of the four descending nins. All four would have gotten impaled, in their sides, if Kakashi hadn't struck one of them away. Naruto grabbed the sword and pushed his chakra out which forced the now three dead Oto-nins to be launched off the sword. With the nins off, Naruto blinked his sword away.

Sakura stared in shock. Naruto had actually killed someone. No, make those three someones.

Before anymore thinking on the matter could be done 5 Oto-nins appeared in the air above them. However, just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone. In there place was Gai, who had kicked and punched the Oto-nins away.

"Naruto, Sakura I have a mission for you." Kakashi said.

"Mission? Right now?" Asked Sakura, wondering what her sensei could be thinking.

"Yes, a mission. The two of you are to wake-up Shikamaru and go after Sasuke. He ran after the Suna team. The four of you are to get him and bring him back." Kakashi said explaining their mission.

"Four of you? Kakashi-sensei, you aren't coming with us?" Asked Naruto.

"No, I need to stay here and cover you. So, you'll be taking…" Kakashi stopped speaking for a moment and preformed a summoning jutsu. "Pakkun," He finished saying, as he picked up the small brown dog to how them.

"That little doggie?" Sakura asked, pointing at the summon.

The dog got in front of her and said, in a surprisingly deep voice, "Don't call me a cute little doggie."

'_I didn't._' Sakura thought to herself.

The three of them carefully crawled up the stairs to where Shikamaru had been when the genjutsu had been cast. Just as Sakura was about to dispel the genjutsu, she saw that Shikamaru was only pretending to be asleep. Pakkun bit the shadow user on his leg, causing Shikamaru to wake-up yelling about stupid dogs.

After Gai had punched an Oto-nin through the wall, the four of them leapt out of the hole and ran into the forest.

* * *

"Follow them and kill this one, if you can." The mysterious ANBU-fake said to the Oto-nin next to him. He handed the shinobi a card.

The shinobi looked at the card and then back at the ANBU-fake. "This is just some no-name genin." He said with a trace of a smirk in his voice.

"Well, if he's not good enough for you, perhaps I should let Lord Orochimaru know what you think of his orders." The ANBU-fake replied.

The man's eyes widened in terror, at what Orochimaru would do to him. "No! No, that's fine. It'll be handled." He said.

"Good. Now, go and don't underestimate him."

The man was off; he met his platoon on the roof and gave them their orders. Once he was finished telling them what it was that they would be doing, the 8 Oto-nin jumed off the roof and began to head into the forest.

* * *

Sakura, Naruto, Pakkun, and Shikamaru ran through the forest, with Sakura explaining what happened to Shikamaru. Which made the Nara boy complain more, about being sent on this mission. After a few more minutes running, Pakkun announced that they were being followed by 9 people that were most likely coming to stop them. They decided to plant false tracks for the enemy to follow.

At first, they thought it had worked. Unfortunately, Pakkun announced that the enemy was on the move once more and this time moving faster. Shikamaru offered to stay behind and slow them down. Naruto felt unease about leaving Shikamaru there without any backup. So, as they ran through the forest Naruto made a clone to help Shikamaru.

* * *

"What the hell is that?" the un-hooded ANBU asked his captain as they watched the caskets that Orochimaru summon open and reveal the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage. They were the very men that helped to found Konoha and then lead it as its first and second leader.

"That is the darkest of all of the forbidden jutsus. It is called, Edo Tensei. It summons the souls of the dead to the realm of the living. Unlike normal summons, that requires a sacrifice of blood. This one requires a sacrifice of a human body, for the soul of the dead to inhabit. Then earth and dust will gather around the body and give it the appearance of the soul's former body. The soul will be able to do all it did in life, but have no free will of its own." The ANBU captain explained.

"So, that means that, Hokage-sama is about to go up against not only Orochimaru. But also, the First and Second Hokage?" the ANBU asked.

"Yes and it won't be an easy fight." The captain said, as the three of them continued to watch.

* * *

The clone arrived to find that Shikamaru had trapped 8 Oto-nins with his clan's Kagemane no Jutsu. However, it looked like he was running very low on chakra judging by his shadow.

'_Hmm, the ninth guy must be hiding to stop any thing that's thrown at the other eight. Well, let's see him stop this._' The clone thought with a smirk.

The clone then blinked Kubikiri into his hands and began to spin around. He then threw Kubikiri at the Oto-nins.

"Shikamaru, drop your jutsu!!" yelled the clone as the sword came to the first few Oto-nins.

Shikamaru dropped the kagemane, just in time to first three Oto-nins on his left get sliced in two by a monstrous sword. He watched as it sliced through all of them and embedded it's self into a tree. He then turned towards where he had seen the sword emerge from and saw Naruto walking towards him.

"Naruto? What the hell was that just now?" He asked the blond.

"That was me doing what I thought was necessary to help a friend." Naruto told him.

Asuma then appeared behind Shikamaru and looked at what had happened. "What happened here?" Asuma asked. Naruto explained, while he blinked Kubikiri away.

"See you around Shikamaru." Naruto said. The blond then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

'_So, that was only a Kage Bunshin? Impressive._' Asuma though to himself.

* * *

Naruto mentally sighed with relief knowing that Shikamaru was alright. However, his comfort was soon removed when he heard a loud crash in the distance ahead of them.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Trip wire traps. They aren't making it easy for Sasuke." Pakkun told them.

"It'll take more than traps to stop Sasuke." Naruto told the nin-dog.

'_I hope you're right kid._' Pakkun thought to himself. Pakkun then told them that Sasuke and the group he was chasing after had stopped. After a moment, two of the people moved on. While Sasuke and one of them stayed.

* * *

Konohamaru stared out the academy window. Iruka-sensei had been gone for a while now. Much to long for a simple errand, something was going on. Konohamaru couldn't help but feel that it was something really bad.

Ikura then came into the class and told everyone to line up at the door. The class would be going on an unscheduled field trip.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura increased their speed, when Pakkun told them Sasuke and the one that stayed behind was on the move again. However, something else was also following after Sasuke. Something, that wasn't human.

* * *

Ibiki grunted to himself as they continued to attack the giant 3 headed snake. Nothing seemed to be working. They were throwing everything they had at the snake and it kept coming at them for more. Already, several of the buildings in the village had been destroyed.

'_This is out of our hands now._' Ibiki thought to himself.

"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu," a voice was heard yelling out above the noise. Suddenly, a large toad with two large swords on it's back came crashing down on one of the snake heads.

"That jutsu…" Ibiki said as he looked up towards the top of the toad to see the summoner.

"Long time no see, Ibiki-kun. My, my, what have they been feeding you? You used to be such a little shrimp." The long white haired man on top of the toad said.

"Jiraiya-sama." Ibiki said to himself as he stared at the back of the man.

"Jiraiya? As in Jiraiya of the Sennin?" The man next to Ibiki asked.

"Alright, you baby chicks. Open those beady little eyes of yours and watch closely." Jiraiya said. He then got on one foot and began to hop to the right. "When it comes, to dealing with strange otherworldly freaks and monsters, no one is better than a strange hermit shinobi. Thank goodness that Jiraiya is here." The hermit yelled out.

The two remaining snake heads stared at each other and mentally said together, '_Who is that strange human?_' Because to the three-headed snakes view, the white haired male was rather creepy.

Ibiki jumped onto the toad and landed next to Jiraiya.

"Where's Sarutobi-sensei?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Hokage-sama is at the village arena," Ibiki replied.

'_Don't die on us old man._' Jiraiya thought to himself as he looked towards the arena.

* * *

Inside the Shishi Enjin, Hiruzen Sarutobi was gasping for breath. He knew this would be his last battle. After all, one doesn't get a sword pierced straight through them and expect to live at such an old age. He just had to finish the Shiki Fujin, by ripping out Orochimaru's soul and then he could die in peace. The only problem was he could feel his will start to weaken.

Orochimaru was struggling in the grip of his old sensei. This wasn't according to plan at all. '_Not good. This is really not good._' The missing-nin thought to himself as he looked down and saw part of his soul being pulled out. Orochimaru was just barely able to move to fingers, but it was enough to make, Kusanagi move more forward in his sensei. Even if, Enma was holding most of the sword out, the damage had already been done. "Let go you old geezer. Let go and die." Orochimaru yelled out. He wasn't going to die here.

* * *

Naruto frowned slightly to himself. Pakkun had told them that Sasuke had stopped again with another one from the group he was chasing, but then said he started moving again when another scent showed up to stayed with the one from the group. They had gone around them to avoid a possible fight and were now closing in on Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke!!" They heard a voice yell out. Which was, quickly followed by the sound of trees being ripped apart.

'_Sounds like Gaara's getting into it._' Naruto thought to himself.

With just a few more leaps between the trees, the three of them arrived in time to see Gaara leaping at a downed Sasuke for a killing strike. Sasuke had some sort of strange black markings on his skin. However, that change was nothing compared to Gaara's. Gaara's sand had started to form around him. His left arm and the right half of his face had been covered in the sand and changed. The eye on his right side, with the sand, was now golden and hand what looked like a plus sign as a pupil. Gaara's arm was now some large freakish looking claw. Also, he had somehow gotten a tail.

Naruto rushed forward and delivered a hard kick to Gaara's face. "Back off." Naruto yelled.

Sakura and Pakkun landed behind Naruto, next to Sasuke. Who, was grunting and shaking in pain from having used the chidori to many times.

"How's Sasuke?" Naruto called back to them.

"He'll live, but he's too low on chakra." Pakkun answered.

Gaara stood up and stared at Naruto with a savage look in his eyes. This boy wouldn't stop him from killing Uchiha Sasuke. Mother wanted the Uchiha's blood and she was going to get it.

Naruto's eyes widened as he could see what Gaara was planning to do. He turned his head back and yelled. "Everyone run!" But, it was already too late. Gaara had shot past him at incredible speeds and was moments away from striking Sasuke. '_Shit, that's fast._' Naruto thought to himself, realizing that Gaara wasn't nearly as slow as he had first thought.

Just as Gaara was about to strike the Uchiha, the pink haired girl jumped between him and his prey. Almost like his uncle, had done. Gaara grabbed his head in pain. The memories hurt to remember. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" Gaara yelled and slammed his clawed sand arm at her. Garra had pinned her to a near by tree with his sand.

Sakura cried out in pain as she was smashed into the tree hard enough to knock her out.

Naruto leapt at the branch Gaara was on and grabbed Sasuke. Stopping a few branches away, he put Sasuke down and yelled out, "Sakura." But soon saw that she had been knocked unconscious.

* * *

"She actually tried to confront Gaara?" Temari said to herself as she watched what was happening from above. Nothing of this plan was going as it should. Temari never wanted any of this to happen, but orders were orders.

* * *

"Shit… Shit… What should I do?" Naruto said to himself as he weighed his options. "Unsealing Neji took more out of me than I thought and any weapon I throw at Gaara would just be blocked by his sand. I may have to do this the old fashion way, sheer dumb luck and a lot of praying."

Gaara grabbed his head again as he looked at Sakura. The memories were pressing on him. He recalled asking his uncle, Yashamaru, about what wounds felt like. How one knows pain. The memories need to stay buried; they were of no concern anymore.

* * *

Hiruzen and Orochimaru were still frozen in their struggle on top of the roof of the kage box. Hiruzen looked down to see more of Kusanagi inching forward. The poison from the blade still slowly pumping into his body.

Orochimaru looked behind his former sensei and stared at the ghostly apparition that was the Shinigami. The being had pulled out his arms, in its hands. Orochimaru then let out a yell of anger.

* * *

Gaara slowly pulled his hand away from his head and looked at Naruto. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to run?" He asked the blond haired shinobi in front of him.

Naruto glanced down at Sasuke and then over at Sakura. Gaara took note of these looks and asked, "These two… What are they to you?"

Naruto stood up and faced Gaara. Looking the Suna boy right in the eyes he replied saying, "Those two are my friends. If you hurt them anymore then you already have… I'll destroy you."

Gaara had heard people declare many things over the years of his short life, as he fought and killed people. Everything from '_I will kill you_' to '_Leave me alone_', but never before had someone said that they were going to destroy him and say it with no fear in their voice or eyes. This blond shinobi was starting to interest him more and more.

Naruto watched as Gaara tightened his clawed hand around Sakura, causing the girl to scream out in pain. "What's wrong? I thought you were going to destroy me?" Gaara taunted him. After a moment of staring at each other, Gaara spoke once more. "Come!" Naruto gritted his teeth and leapt at the Suna-nin.

Gaara saw the Konoha-nin coming towards him and with a swipe of his sand tail batted the boy away.

Naruto grunted as he landed. Gaara's tail packed more of a punch than he thought it would. '_Well, that wasn't very smart._' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto stood up and looked at his comrades. "Shit this is bad. I have to finish this as quickly as possible and save them." Naruto said to himself.

Naruto looked over to find Gaara laughing. "So, you fight for another? That is why you guys are so weak. You don't need a reason to fight. Only the winner can feel the value of his existence. Now, forget about your stupid friends, and fight only for yourself." Gaara called to him.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and Sakura as Gaara continued, "People who bring unnecessary emotions into battle should just die."

"You can keep spouting that shit if you want, and I'll still beat you." Naruto said as he grabbed one of his kunai and leapt high into the air.

"You really don't know the meaning of true strength." Gaara said as he watched the boy jump.

"Shut the fuck up." Naruto yelled as he came down towards Gaara.

Gaara grabbed his head in pain once more, remembering how the pink haired girl had acted. He looked to see the blond was nearly on him, so with a flick of his sand tail he smashed it into him; like a whip. Gaara grabbed his head again, as more memories resurfaced. Why? Why wouldn't they stay buried?

Gaara looked at the blond shinobi and asked, "What's wrong? Come! Don't you care what happens to your important friend?" He then tightened his grip on the pink haired nin to get his point across.

Naruto looked at Sakura being crushed by the sand. '_Damn it. How do I save Sakura?_' Naruto thought to himself. '_That's it. I'll summon Gamabunta. I'll take most of my chakra but it should work._' He then began to do the hand seals and after biting his thumb, slammed his hand down on a tree branch yelling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." A poof of smoke was heard and seen. As it began to disappear, a toad was revealed. That toad was… Gamakichi. '_OH, COME ON!! I trained my ass off two summon and eve got thrown off of a cliff and I still can't summon the toads right?_' Naruto mentally screamed in his head.

"Hey Naruto-nii-san. Are we going to the hot springs again?" The small toad asked him.

"Actually Gamakichi, I'm in the middle of a fight here. I was trying to summon your dad to help me save everyone." Naruto told the small toad.

"Save everyone? Don't make me laugh." Gaara said. Naruto and Gamakichi turned to see that Gaara was undergoing another change with his sand. Both of his eyes were now golden and sand covered his entire upper body. His right arm joined his left arm in being covered in sand and changing into an odd claw-like arm. The hand of his left arm broke away, keeping Sakura pinned to the tree.

"The sand on this girl will not release, until you defeat me. Not only that but as time goes on the sand will constrict tighter around her and will eventually kill her." Gaara said as his sand hand reformed.

'_This is getting bad. Really bad, Gaara's closer to awakening the perfect form._' Temari thought to herself as she watched her youngest brother change.

Gaara crossed his arms in front of him and roared, "SAND SHURIKEN!!" He then swung his arms forward and multiple clumps of sand came shooting out, heading for the blond shinobi and the strange talking toad.

Seeing the sand coming at them, Naruto picked up Gamakichi and wrapped his arms around the small toad to protect him. Naruto then tried to jump out of the way, but he was caught by the sand in mid jump and sent backwards.

When they landed, Gamakichi stuck his head out form under Naruto and looked at the guy that had tried to kill them. "Who is that guy?" The small tad asked.

Naruto looked to see that the only part of Gaara left unchanged was his feet. This, however, did nothing to change the fact that Gaara looked none the less deadly.

* * *

Orochimaru stared at his former sensei and said, "You are a persistent one, Sarutobi-sensei." He tried to move Kusanagi, but was unable to do so as he arms were barely able to move. "It's not moving…"

"You still do not understand, do you Orochimaru? Konoha is my home. And I am its foundation as Hokage" Sarutobi said.

"That's why I said, I would destroy that foundation!" Orochimaru replied venomously.

"As long as the shinobi of this village are fighting to protect their precious people, THE FOUNDATION OF KONOHA CANNOT BE DESTROYED BY YOU!" Sarutobi said, yelling out the last part.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"Don't underestimate the power of a Hokage, boy." Sarutobi shot back. As if to prove his point, Orochimaru's soul arms began to began to move forward again after being still for so long.

"This can't be… How are you… You shouldn't have any chakra left." Orochimaru gasped out.

"Chakra and jutsus aren't the only way to determine strength."

* * *

'_His eyes… They're like mine. He's the same as me. That darkness, that is known only as loneliness. It's a pitch black living hell to not be acknowledged. I eventually found people to acknowledge me, but he didn't. I don't know what happened, but he has been alone and has suffered. He has never felt any relief and can only believe in himself. He is still fighting in that hell. Since people acknowledge me, I may only be a frivolous coward to him. Can I beat him?_' Naruto thought to himself as he stared at Gaara.

Gaara squeezed the sand around Sakura tighter. "What's wrong? Are you afraid of me? Are you going to fight only for yourself, or fight for another?" he asked the blond shinobi. "Just love yourself and fight. Fight only for yourself! That's what makes a strong person strong!" Gaara declared.

Gaara the stretched out had arms and said, "Now, fight me. What happened to that spirit? Show me your power and I will crush it."

Seeing that Naruto wasn't moving, Gaara said, "If you don't fight me, the girl will die." The sand around Sakura tightened even more.

"Fuck it all!!" Naruto yelled as he jumped at Gaara.

In mid jump, Naruto preformed Kage Bunshin and called out 50 clones.

Gaara just smiled, savagely as multiple mouths appeared on his sand covered body. "Fuuton: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!" Gaara yelled out. Causing a massive sand storm to erupt out of the mouths.

As the sand hit the clones, they began to disappear. Naruto himself was thrown back and slammed into a tree. '_Crap… That hurt a lot._' Naruto thought to himself.

"I'll play around with you so that you won't die so quickly. I can't wait to see when you give up, abandon your friends, and run away." Gaara said with a deranged sense of glee in his voice. He then crossed his arms over each other and then swung them forward sending his sand shurikens at the blond shinobi.

Naruto was unable to move and dodge the sand shurikens as they came his way. They blasted through trees as they hit him, knocking him back even more. Over and over again Gaara hit him with his sand shuriken attack. And each time, Naruto was able to stand.

* * *

Temari looked down at the beating Naruto was receiving from her youngest brother, in slight amazement. He was still able to stand after such a beating.

* * *

Naruto raised his head and looked at Gaara. '_I'm not going to lose to you Gaara. Even if I have to die, I will beat you._' Naruto thought to himself.

Gaara just stared at Naruto, like how a predator would stare at prey. "You came after me, and this is what happens to you? You cannot even touch me. You make me laugh." Gaara said, commenting on the blond's inability to hit him. While never noticing Naruto pull a kunai and an exploding tag from his weapons pouch.

Gaara smirked as Naruto called more clones. This time they were fewer in number. He swung out his clawed sand arm and caught three of the clones. The one clone that stayed out of his grasp was able to land on the shoulders of the caught clones and threw the real Naruto at him.

Naruto summoned another clone to jump over Gaara, as the Suna-nin shot his other clawed hand forward. Once he was over Gaara, Naruto summoned a clone in mid-air and jump on the clones back. "Take this Gaara. Konoha's ultimate taijutsu attack, Thousand Years of Pain!" Naruto yelled out, as he came up behind Gaara and shoved a kunai into where his ass should be just below the base of his sand tail.

* * *

Temari looked on wide-eyed at first, that Naruto was able to get past Gaara so easily. But then, she sighed mentally to herself at the boy's utter stupidity. What good was a kunai in sand going to do? Plus, it just looked really stupid.

* * *

Gaara slowly turned his head back and stared at the Konoha-nin. With a flick of his tail he bashed the boy away.

While sailing through the air, Naruto smirked to himself and said, "Boom."

At that moment, to put it simply, Gaara's ass exploded.

Naruto felt his back hit something fleshy. He looked down to see that Sasuke had been able to move to catch him.

* * *

Temari, stared at where her brother had been. No one had ever been able to get an explosion to go off so closely to Gaara and right at his weak spot.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke looked at the now damaged Gaara. Most of the right half was now just a lump of sand barely holding together. "You did all that, but still only managed one hit?" Sasuke asked him.

"Oh, shut up." Naruto replied back.

"Hey Naruto, you better rescue Sakura no matter what, and once you rescue her, take her and run. You can do it. I'll buy you sometime." Sasuke said as he struggled to stand up. "If it ends here, it will mean I was only capable of getting this far. I have already lost everything once… I never want to see a friend die in front of me again." Sasuke finished with his back to Naruto.

"I see." Naruto replied, standing next to Sasuke. "That was a very touching speech you just gave Sasuke, but I don't plan on dying. Plus, you can barely stand as it is. He's like me… I've felt the same loneliness and sadness in my life… That's why I thought he was strong, because he was alone and fought only for himself. But that's not what being strong means. You can't become truly strong if you fight only for yourself."

Naruto clasped his hands together and began to call forth his chakra. His chakra swirled around him, like a brightly glowing blue flame.

Sasuke stared, wide-eyed at the amount of chakra Naruto was able to call forth. '_Is this really Naruto?_' He mentally asked himself.

"I swear… I'll protect… Everyone." Naruto grunted before shouting, "TAJU KAGE BUNSHIN!!" Summoning as many clones as he could.

When the smoke cleared Sasuke, Gamakichi, Temari, Pakkun, and Gaara looked around them. There were hundreds of clones, maybe even a thousand.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but this is where your ass kicking begins." Naruto shouted out to Gaara.

* * *

"What the hell? It should be impossible to make so many bunshins." Temari said to herself, in shock over the amount of clones there were.

* * *

"Sasuke, you take a break. Leave this to me." Naruto told his teammate.

Sasuke couldn't help but stare at Naruto. '_Since when has he been able to do this?_'

"Alright everyone, move out." Naruto shouted out to his clones.

Naruto hand his clones jumped into the air and threw their shuriken at Gaara. Gaara was able to block most of it with his remaining sand arm. But he was unprepared for the number of clones that began to punch him up into the air. From all around Gaara, the clones punched him. When they backed off, Gaara's transformed state was barely recognizable. Two clones appeared in front of him and hit him hard enough to knock him off of the tree branch he had been standing on. Gaara fell to the earth hard enough to indent the ground.

'_This guy… Who is he? Where is his power coming from? Me lose to him?_' Gaara mentally asked himself, thinking about the real possibility of losing. Gaara then stood up and yelled, "There's no way I can lose to you!" Gaara sand then shot high into the air, blasting the clones out of his way.

A giant poof of smoke was heard as Naruto was slammed down into a tree. Naruto looked to see a very large shadow emerging from the smoke. Two glowing yellow eyes looked down at him.

* * *

'_It's finally come out. Gaara's perfect form._' Temari thought to herself with a shudder.

* * *

Naruto stared at the creature before him. It took the shape of a tanuki with blue markings over its fat body. "Is this the monster that's sealed inside of him?" Naruto asked himself.

"I didn't expect to show this form to you guys!" Gaara said from within the creature. He then raised a massive claw and began to squeeze it.

Naruto looked down to see sand forming around him. Knowing it was a slim chance; Naruto grabbed some blood and began to perform the seals to summon.

"This is the end for you. Sabaku Kyu…" Gaara said while closing his clawed hand completely.

However, before the sand could compress and crush Naruto's voice was heard yelling out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." The sand blasted away, unable to contain the large figure that now occupied the space.

Everyone watching the fight looked at the huge toad that had appeared.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you entertain me greatly." Gaara said, somewhat happy that he could still have his fun.

"What the hell, am I doing here? What do you want you brat?" Came the deep rumbling voice of Gamabunta from under Naruto.

Gamabunta looked ahead of him to see, the large creature that Gaara had become swinging its large tail behind him.

"Gamabunta, I need you to fight with me." Naruto said the boss summon.

"Nope." Was the simple reply Gamabunta gave his summoner.

"WHAT??" Naruto yelled. His scream heard all though out the forest. "What do you mean, '_Nope_'? I'm your summoner, I summoned you."

"Why do I have to fight him? That's just stupid. Besides, we haven't even had a drink together."

Naruto grabbed the side of his head, not believing what he was hearing from Gamabunta. "That's insane. I'm not even twenty yet. I can't drink alcohol."

Gamakichi jumped on Naruto's head and said, "Don't say that. Please listen to him, Pops."

"What are you doing here, Gamakichi?" Gamabunta asked his young son.

"I was bored, so I came out here to play. Anyway, that guy tried to kill me and Naruto-nii-san." Gamakichi said, pointing to Gaara's new monstrous form.

"What did you say?" Gamabunta growled out.

"But, Naruto-nii-san was able to fight that monster equally."

"I see." Gamabunta replied, thinking upon what his young son told him.

Gamabunta then grabbed his dagger and pulled it out. "Gaki, I'll help you out, but I still want that drink with you. Now, hold on, because I'm going to show you just how strong we toads really are." He said, pointing his dagger at Gaara. "You're going to pay for what you did you flunky." Gamabuta said to Gaara's monstrous form.

Gamabunta charged forward, pulling his dagger back and knocking Naruto back by the sudden change in movement. "Hang on tight." Gamabunta said before jumping into the air. When coming down, the large toad boss brought his dagger forward and was able to cut into the out stretched arm of Shukaku. Gamabunta then jumped into the air once more to sever the arm off completely. The large arm crashed onto the ground and began to form back into sand. Gamabunta's dagger had gotten lose in the cut and came crashing down to earth.

Gaara turned his form around to face Gamabunta. He wasn't happy about losing his arm.

'_Impressive… He's so heavy that I was barely able to cut through his arm with my dagger. I need to finish this quickly or the whole landscape could be changed._' Gamabunta thought to himself as I had been a few years since he fought something as big as himself.

"Hey Gamabunta, my teammates are over there, so don't go that way. Get him to come over here." Naruto said while pointing to where Sakura and Sasuke where at.

"This is interesting! This is very interesting, Uzumaki Naruto!" Gaara's Shukaku form shouted.

* * *

'_Oh shit, Gaara's going to use _it_. This place is no longer safe. I have to get out of here._' Temari thought to herself. She began to run to get a safe distance away from what Gaara was about to do.

* * *

The sand on top of Shukaku's head began to ripple as Gaara emerged from the giant sand formed beast.

"Is that the medium?" Gamabunta asked allowed as he saw Gaara on top of Shukaku's head.

"This is a reward for entertaining me, Uzumaki Naruto. I'll show you the true strength of the incarnation of sand." Gaara said as he raised his head to look at Naruto.

Gamabunta saw the rings around Gaara's eyes and told Naruto how being sealed with Shukaku inside tended to drive the user insane, due to a lack a sleep. He told the young shinobi that as long as the medium was awake the true powers of Shukaku would be suppressed.

Gaara clasped his hands in front of him in a hand seal and said in a soft gravely voice, "Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu" His body then slumped forward in a forced sleep. For a moment, it was peaceful on the battlefield between the large beasts.

That peace was then shattered, when an insane amount of killing intent emerged from Shukaku and the monster spoke in a loud squawky voice saying, "**I'm finally out here!**" Then, giving an insane laugh.

Naruto just stared at what had transpired before him. He had thought that it couldn't get worse, but boy was he wrong. '_Fuck me._' He thought to himself.

Shukaku pointed his remaining clawed hand at Gamabunta, shouting that he had found something he wanted to kill. Gamabunta jumped high into the air; dodging a wind attack by Shukaku and fired back with his own water attack. Shukaku was able to negate this attack, by blasting off another wind attack and destroying the water attack. Gamabunta landed behind Shukaku and jumped once more. Saukaku was able to turn his body surprisingly fast for such a large being, and fired off three rapid wind attacks at the toad boss. Gamabunta was able to stop two of the three attacks, but took the third one head on.

Shukaku was so caught up in is celebration of killing something, that he was unprepared to see Gamabunta jump out of the smoke towards him. The monster soon got over it and began launching attacks once more.

Gamabunta told Naruto to wake Gaara up by punching him, as he grabbed hold of Shukaku's shoulders. However, before Naruto could jump onto Shuaku's head. The large monster stepped back, causing the toad to lose its grip on him. Gamabunta quickly bounced away, before Shukaku could hurt him.

Naruto asked what happed and Gamabunta said he needed claws and fangs to hold onto the monster. He asked Naruto to help him henge as he wasn't good at it and charged once more. Naruto, surprised by the sudden charge at Shukaku, thought of the only thing with claws and fangs he could think of.

"Henge!" Gamabunta shouted out. A loud poof of smoke appeared, covering his body. Suddenly the barrier of smoke was broken as a large menacing; orange fox with nine tails appeared; charging towards Shukaku.

The henged Gamabunta ran at Shukaku swiping his newly acquired claws at the monster. Shukaku was able to get several wind attacks off, each one getting stronger than the last. The monster charged at the henged toad, as said toad grabbed a couple of trees with one of his now many tails and hid the trees with the rest.

Gamabuta ran past Shukaku, forcing the monster to turn around. The henged toad jumped into the air. Shukaku fired off another wind attack at the airborne target. His attack was stopped though, by the trees that Gamabunta threw at it. Gamabunta emerged from the smoke of the negated attack and landed right on top of Shukaku. He grabbed the monster hand held on tightly.

Naruto jumped high into the air as the henge around Gamabunta disappeared. "Wake up!!" Naruto shouted as he came crashing down from the sky. He swung his fist hard and smashed it into Gaara's face. Naruto landed on Shukaku's forehead and slid down slightly. Not waiting to see if Gaara did wake up: Naruto summoned the least amount of chakra he could to his throat and let lose a loud sonic scream, that could wake the dead, and made sure Gaara awoke.

'_Good, the medium hasn't been asleep for to long. That should wake him up._' Thought the boss of the toad summons.

"**Damn it. I just got out here…**" Shukaku cried out as the eyes with from golden yellow to a sandy stone color; signifying that Gaara had awoken and Shukaku was once again being suppressed.

Gaara awoke with his left cheek hurting badly and his ears ringing. He looked down to see the Konoha shinobi, Uzumaki Naruto, charging at him. '_He dispelled my technique?_' Gaara thought to himself with a very small touch of an emotion he had long since forgotten. That emotion was fear. No one, but a high jounin level shinobi should have been able to dispel, Tanuki Neiri. Gaara softened the sand in front of Naruto and trapped the blond just a bit out of striking distance from him. Gaara called his sand to go to Naruto for Sabaku Kyu, but the sand was blocked by a large tongue from a toad that was holding onto his Shukaku form. Seeing his sand blocked, Gaara softened the sand below Naruto more and the blond began to slowly sink.

When the toad removed his tongue, Gaara looked at Naruto and said, "I will kill you. My existence will not disappear!"

* * *

All around the arena Konoha shinobi fought against Suna and Oto shinobi. For a while the leaf had been out numbered, but with the arrival of three black cloaked ANBUs, each with a bear mask and red diagonal stripes on their cloaks, the tides were begin to turn. But that didn't mean that the enemy wasn't a formidable opponent. The enemy had been able to force Kakashi to reveal his sharingan, Gai to take off his weights, and Asuma to pull out his knuckle knives.

"I didn't expect there to be this many Suna jounins here." Gai commented as he and Kakashi went back to back.

"Yeah well, this is a war." Kakashi replied back.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the roof of the kage box, the three ANBU members continued to watch, waiting for something to happen. It was had to see, due to all of the wood, so the three men didn't know what was going on inside.

"This is taking to long. It is not possible for to ninjas to fight this long. What is happening in there?" The white cloaked ANBU captain questioned allowed.

* * *

Inside, Orochimaru was still being held by Sarutobi. They had been locked in the struggle for nearly 7 minutes, neither giving in to the other.

'_My arms are still being held. I can't use any of my techniques._' Orochimaru thought desperately to himself. He looked at his old sensei and asked in a mocking tone, "Can you please let go now?"

"I won't let the village fall victim to your ambition." Sarutobi grunted out as the sword went forward a little more.

"No one can stop my ambition. You're going to die here. Or are you saying that an old man like you, Third Hokage… has the power to stop me? Do you really understand the situation right now? This village is being attacked by my men and shinobi from the Hidden Village of Sand. Your people… The Konoha ninjas will die, as will the women and children! The destruction of Konoha will succeed." Orochimaru said, while laughing at his sensei.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the Hokage Monument, the academy students were all sitting together waiting for the emergency to be over. However, one student couldn't wait. That student was Konohamaru. The young grandson of the Hokage stood up and began to walk towards the door.

"Konohamaru-kun, what's wrong?" Udon asked.

The young boy turned back to his friends and said, "I have to go to the bathroom."

After thinking about it for, all of a second, Udon and Moegi replied saying, "Me too."

Iruka heard the door open behind him and turned to see Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon standing behind him. "What are the three of you doing out here? We're in the middle of an emergency right now. If the enemy sees you, they're going to do something horrible to you! Go back to the room and stay put." Iruka said to the three students in his teacher tone of voice.

"That's not it. I have to pee." Konohamaru told him.

"Hold it in."

"I don't think I can…" Konohamaru wined back.

Iruka sighed to himself and said, "Fine… Let's go together."

Konohamaru then turned around and went screaming down the hall while yelling, "It's going to leak out…" He was so caught up in his running that he didn't watch where he was running until he smashed into something. The young boy looked up to see a group of women being lead in by a purple haired kunoichi. One of the women helped him up as Iruka, Udon and Moegi came around the corner after Konohamaru.

"Is this the last of them?" Iruka asked Anko.

"Yep. The evacuation of the village is now complete." Anko replied with a grin.

"What's going on?" Konohamaru asked from between the two adults.

"The Village of Konoha has a manual in case we're attacked by the enemy." Iruka started.

Anko then continued saying, "Stage one, we are to eliminate the enemy units. If we cannot eliminate them, we are to immediately move up to the second stage."

"In other words, evacuate all civilians. We are able to evacuate all the women and children to designated places round the village. Once that is complete, we move to the third stage." Iruka said continuing were Anko left off.

"Third stage?" Konohamaru asked curiously.

"Use all of the forces in the village to eliminate the enemy!" Iruka told his young pupils.

"So, then…" Konohamaru started to ask, but was quickly answered by Iruka.

"Yes, this is where we counterattack."

Iruka ushered three academy students back into the room, while Anko showed the women into a room directly across from them. The two then stood outside of the rooms, keeping watch.

"So, are you alright?" Iruka asked his girlfriend/lover.

"No. I'm not." Anko replied. She then continued, "Orochimaru's leading this invasion."

Iruka winced slightly. He knew the subject of Orochimaru was a very sore spot for her.

"And also…" Anko started to say, but stopped as she seemed to get nervous.

Iruka looked over at her. This wasn't a good sign. Anko wasn't one to get nervous. "Go on." Iruka said trying to gently coax her into saying what she wanted to say.

"I also found out, I'm pregnant. We're going to be parents Iru-kun." Anko said with a small blush on her cheeks. She had been thinking about having kids for a while, but never thought she'd have them this soon.

Iruka nodded his head in understanding and turned his face forward again. It was about this time that he understood what Anko had told him. "WHAT?" He yelled out, right before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out.

'_Note to self, never tell your lover that you're pregnant during an invasion._' Anko thought to herself.

* * *

The shinobi that had been fighting in the stands were gathered down by the railing and looked down into the arena. Over head, a hawk flew by.

"That's…" Gai started to say.

"Yeah. It's finally time." Kakashi said.

* * *

Sarutobi looked at his former student and said, "You still to don't understand do you, Orochimaru? Do not underestimate the shinobi of this village!"

Orochimaru just grunted back, trying to concentrate on keeping his soul.

* * *

Down one of the many streets in Konoha, a large group of Oto and Suna shinobi were running down the street. That is until, several kunai and shuriken rained down on them and took all but a few members out. The remaining shinobi looked up to see five standard ANBUs standing on the archway between two buildings.

"You're not getting any further." A purple-haired ANBU yelled down at them.

The five ANBU then leapt down in the blink of an eye to start pushing the enemy back.

* * *

All around the village the shinobi were fighting, pushing the combined might of Sand and Sound back. The Hyuugas were using their Byakugan and Juken taijutsu. The members of the Inuzuka clan were attacking with there nin-dogs. Inochi Yamanaka, Shikaku Nara, and Choza Akimichi had gotten together and were reliving some of there old team combat moves. Carefully placed traps were being set off, shuriken and kunai of all various shapes and sizes were being thrown, and ass whoppings were being handed out left and right.

* * *

Kathy Buster, jounin of Konoha, was standing in the middle of an abandoned street that leads to the hospital. Her orders from the Hokage were to not let any one other than a Konoha shinobi pass, other than that, kill everyone else. So far, none of the invaders had come down the street. So, she was doing her best to look as dumb as most people thought she looked.

Suddenly, the sound of several approaching feet caught her attention. Appearing before her, were seven sound shinobi. From the lecherous looks on their faces, that Kathy could see, they were all male. Kathy mentally sighed to herself in victory; this is what she loved about being a woman, just show a guy a bit of skin or a sexy pose and he would instantly become the world's biggest idiot. After all, a woman with a chest her size can't kill anyone.

"Well, well guys; looks like we found ourselves some fun." The apparent leader spoke. The men behind him were agreeing with their on dumbass remarks.

"W-what are you gon-gonna do to m-me?" Kathy asked them in a quivering voice.

"We're going to show your tits and pussy a good time." The Oto-nin replied as he started to make his way towards her.

"Oh, but you see…" Kathy said before she flung her hands forward. Several small flashes appeared in the air and suddenly the seven enemy-nins found themselves tightly wrapped up. "I like my men to not fall to pieces on me." She continued as she pulled her arms back; causing the chakra enhanced razor wire to cut through the bodies of the sound shinobi. Their blood spurted high from the ruined bodies.

Kathy just grinned to herself as she rolled her, now bloody, razor wire back up. Men were just too easy.

* * *

Naruto looked up at Gaara; he knew he was on his last leg of strength. He clasped he hands in the ram hand seal and began to concentrate. Slowly at first, but gradually building, Naruto could feel Kyuubi's chakra start to surge through him. The red chakra poured out of his body and covered him in a red chakra-like flame. His forehead protector flew off his head as the sand, that had been slowly incasing his feet, was repulsed.

"Let's go you stupid raccoon!" Naruto yelled as he jumped at Gaara.

"Die!!" Gaara roared, summoning his sand.

Naruto's speed had increased greatly, but it wasn't enough to get passed the sand that was able to grab him and stop him from hitting Gaara. Naruto struggled against the sand, trying to force his way through. "Fuck it all!!" Naruto yelled out as he lurched his body forward; head butting Gaara with enough force to draw blood.

Gamabunta watched as the sand began to lose shape and fall to the ground. Too tired to stay, he dispelled himself back to Myobokuzan.

The resulting dispel sent Gaara and Naruto flying, as they were still up in the air. The two genin eventually stopped on top of two trees that happed to have Gamabunta's dagger between them. As they sat up, they could see half of their own reflection in the dagger and see the remaining half of their respective opponent.

"You're almost out of chakra aren't you? So am I. How about we end this fight between to similar people?" Naruto asked.

Not saying anything, the genin stood and faced each other. The braced themselves and waited for the dagger to dispel.

* * *

Sarutobi coughed up more blood and looked at Orochimaru and said, "It looks like I don't have the power to drag out all of your soul. However, your ambition ends here!"

The growing smirk on Orochimaru's face instantly dropped. "It's not over yet. My ambition will not end yet!" He yelled at his old sensei.

"I will hand down your punishment for drowning yourself in techniques. I will take away all the techniques you have!"

"What did you say?" Orochimaru screamed as his soul arms were pulled closer to Sarutobi's body.

The shinigami behind Sarutobi removed the dagger from it's mouth and grasped it for a downward striking motion.

"STOP!!" Orochimaru yelled as the dagger came swinging down. Sarutobi pushed him away as his soul arms were cut.

"Seal!" The Third shouted right after the arms had been cut. A bright light appeared, as the arms were sealed into his body.

Orochimaru used all of the strength he had to left up his arms. "My… Hands…" He said as he watched them turn from white to black.

"Now you can't use your arms anymore. Since you cannot use your arms, you will not be able to form any seals. You can no longer use any ninja techniques! The destruction of Konoha has failed!" Sarutobi said as he felt his life draining away.

"You old geezer. Give me back my arms." Orochimaru shouted. Truly scared, for the first time in a very long time. His jutsus were his life. He needed them.

"You are a fool, Orochimaru. My only regret is that we cannot die together, stupid apprentice. Let us meet in the other world." Sarutobi said feeling the last bit of his life leaving his body. As he began to close his eyes to death's sweet embrace, he could see that Orochimaru was still yelling at him. Slowly, he fell to the ground with his final thoughts reeling through his aged mind._

* * *

_

Where the Konoha dance, fire burns.

As Gamabunta's dagger dispelled, Naruto and Gaara leapt forward. Their fists pulled back ready to deliver a decisive blow.

_The shadow of that fire will flash over the village…_

Gaara and Naruto shot their fists forward. Naruto was quicker, this time, and punched Gaara as hard as he could. The two of them crashed down to the forest floor. Neither one, being able to move.

_And the leaves will grow once again._

* * *

Orochimaru watched in complete silence as Sarutobi's body crashed to the ground. The Third Hokage of Konoha was dead.

Enma, the monkey king and long time favored summon of the Third crawled forward and pulled the sword from the man's body. With the sword out and his summoner dead, Enma dispelled himself.

"My arms… they feel like they're burning…" Orochimaru said to himself. Things weren't suppose to have ended this way. Damn you Sarutobi, damn you to the pits of hell.

"Orochimaru-sama!!" His subordinate Sakon called out.

"The mission ends here. Release the field. We're going back." He ordered them.

The four sound-nins dispelled the field barrier and rushed to their lord's aid. Two of them grabbed him and began to make their way out of the small roof forest.

The three ANBUs that had been watching started to go after them, but were stopped by one of the sound-nins. Who was able to produce a sticky re-enforced chakra web to stop them.

With the threat of pursuit by ANBU taken care of, the four nins and Orochimaru, vanished.

* * *

Temari ran through the forest, to were she had seen her brother and Naruto go. As she jumped through the trees, she saw her other brother, Kankuro, lying on a tree branch. She jumped down and realized that he had been poisoned. She set to work to save her brother's life. Hopefully, Gaara would be fine for just a little longer.

* * *

As the sand hand around Sakura disappeared, Sasuke ran and caught her as she fell. He placed on a branch next to Pakkun and told the dog summon to look after her. Sasuke then took off running to where he had last seen Naruto and that Gaara guy land.

* * *

Gaara stared up at the sky, his body numb with pain he'd never felt before. His mind repeating one undeniable truth over and over; he'd lost. For the first time ever, in his life, Gaara had lost a fight. He threw everything he had at the blond-haired shinobi known as Naruto and the boy just kept coming back for more. He slowly turned his head towards the direction he saw Naruto land a few yards from him and saw Naruto slowly dragging himself over to Gaara with only the use of one arm.

'_Why… Is he so strong? My existence will not disappear… It will not! I won't let it disappear!_' Gaara thought, as he watched Naruto edge closer and closer to him. Fear gripping his heart. Was he going to die? Gaara tried to summon his sand, only to discover that his sand no longer responded to him. "S-stay away from me!" Gaara yelled out, fear evident in his voice, as he saw Naruto getting closer still.

Naruto stared into Gaara's eyes and said, "The pain of being alone is completely out of this world isn't it? That feeling of not being needed or wanted by anyone."

Gaara's eyes widened in surprise. At whatwas being said.

"I don't know why…, but I understand your feelings so much it actually hurts. But I… I have people who are important to me now. People that acknowledge my existence. Which is why, I won't let you hurt them. Even if, I have to kill you." Naruto said, continuing his crawling once more.

Gaara was surprised and shocked by what Naruto had said. "Why… Why can you do that for strangers?" Gaara asked.

"My loneliness… That hell… They saved me from it and acknowledged my existence. They're important to me… That's why." Naruto answered.

Gaara turned his head and looked back up at the sky, as he remembered his dead uncle's words. _Love is the spirit of devoting yourself to someone important and close to you… It is expressed by caring for and protecting that person._ "Love…?" Gaara said to himself as he thought, '_Is that why he's strong?_'

"You had no one to acknowledge you. So, you were alone. I don't know what happened to you, but you eventually saw that people would acknowledge you when you killed them. So, you went on killing people to have them acknowledge you. It wasn't enough though, was it? It wasn't true acknowledgement. You wanted someone to see the real you underneath. Well, I see the real you Gaara and I acknowledge your existence; not because you're a killer, but because you're a fellow person, a fellow jinchuuriki. You are not alone Gaara." Naruto said, crawling forward some more, just incase his words weren't reaching the Suna shinobi.

"You can stop now, Naruto." A voice said above him. Naruto looked to see Sasuke crouched next to him. "Sakura's fine now. He must be out of chakra too, since the sand holding Sakura has released her." Sasuke told him.

"Good." Naruto replied.

At that moment, Temari and Kankuro dropped down in front of their brother. The two siblings looked like they were still ready for a fight.

"Don't fight them." Came a gravely voice behind them. The two siblings looked back at the third. "Let's stop." Gaara said to them. Neither of them knew what to think as Gaara had always been the one that loved killing.

'_I've never seen Gaara in such a weakened state before._' Kankuro thought to himself as he picked his younger brother up.

Temari just looked on, wondering what the Uzumaki guy had done to her brother.

The three of them turned to face the Leaf-nins and with one last look at Naruto from Gaara they took to the trees heading for home.

As his older brother carried him through the trees, Gaara thought about what Naruto had said to him. "Temari, Kankuro… I'm sorry." Gaara said.

The older siblings looked at each other. Gaara had never apologized before, about anything.

"Don't worry about it." Kankuro said.

Temari nodded he head in agreement, while thinking more on the mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto. Oh well, the chances of ever running into the blond haired shinobi again were very low.

* * *

Meanwhile, far away from the great shinobi nations, a figure in a darkened room opened their eyes. It was rather entertaining watching the teacher and student fight. Hiruzen was right though, his student was a fool. Poor little Orochimaru was so caught up in his _cute little_ _ambitions_ that the boy never realized when he was being used.

Oh, how everything was just falling into place. All that was left was for that pathetic Uchiha and his _organization_ to do their part.**

* * *

**

Next Chapter: Search for the Fifth and you want me to what?

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it. Please leave a review.**


	7. Search for The Fifth and You Want me to

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 7: Search for The Fifth and You Want me to What?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Beta read by: SamJaz**

* * *

Naruto was sad, but he couldn't cry anymore. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure was dead. The man who was so deeply a part of his life from the very beginning was gone. The funeral for the Third and those that lost their lives had been held a couple of days after the failed Suna/Oto invasion.

People were starting to rebuild in the village. After all, life went on. The ANBU were patrolling in the village and keeping guard at the village walls, just incase one of the other nations wanted to try and attacking them.

The small residential district that ran along left side of the Maelstrom Apartments and the right side of Oishii had nearly been destroyed. Several of the homes, had been completely destroyed. A few of them, looked like they had been split open. Luckily, the apartment and stores had been spared. Not that Naruto cared at the moment.

Naruto knew he wasn't well liked by many of the villagers. Hopefully, with what happened in the invasion, they would ease up on him for a couple of days at least. What really worried him though, was the fact that he let the Suna team leave after beating Gaara.

Regulation was any beaten enemy that could be taken in, should be taken in for questioning. He knew he wasn't supposed to do it, but he understood Gaara's pain so well. Naruto knew how the young host felt. To be ignored in mass was a fate worse than death. Naruto got people to acknowledge him through pranks and now his skills as a shinobi of Konoha. Gaara, however, had only seeped further into his sadness and had discovered that people would acknowledge him through battles and death. So, he killed his opponents and who ever got in his way.

Naruto prayed that his decision wouldn't come back to haunt him. If the village council got wind of it, he'd be in trouble.

Sighing to himself, he grabbed his frog wallet and went to grab a bit of food at Ichiraku's.

* * *

"I see that even after all this time; you still have not grown up. Have you Jiraiya?" A voice behind the legendary toad sennin asked.

"I'm just doing it one last chance." The long white-haired man replied; not even bothering to turn around as he already knew who was behind him. A moment later, he collapsed his telescope and turned around, facing the two people behind him. "Homura-san, Koharu-san what business does the village council have with me, I wonder?" He asked them.

The two village elders looked at Jiraiya, before Homura broke the silence and spoke. "We are currently without a Hokage to lead us. There are only two people in all of the Land of Fire that is eligible enough to lead us. Due to the possibility of war with Suna and other minor villages, we need a Hokage to lead the village."

"At a meeting yesterday, we decided that it should be you to become the Godaime Hokage, Jiraiya." Koharu said adding in her 2 ryu.

"Unlucky for you, cause I'm not the type for it." Jiraiya replied denying their offer.

"This is the decision that was made. Are you not one of the Sennin as stated? If you are not the type, then tell us, who is?" Homura asked him.

"There is another person among the Sennin. That person is Tsunade." Jiraiya said naming his old teammate.

"Even if that is true, we do not know of her whereabouts." Koharu informed the toad sennin.

"I'm going to look for her and bring her back. That shouldn't be a problem right?" Jiraiya asked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"However…?" Homura began, knowing Jiraiya had some small motive in this.

"However, I want to bring someone along with me. I found an interesting new egg." Jiraiya answered in a grin.

The two elders glanced at each other before sighing and agreeing to it.

* * *

Naruto was happily slurping down his ramen at Ichiraku's. No matter how bad of a day he had had, the ramen of Ichiraku's would make it all better.

"Looks like you _do_ eat ramen all the time." A voice said behind him.

Naruto looked behind him to see the Jiraiya was standing behind him. "Oh, Ero-Sennin." Naruto said with a mouth full of ramen.

Jiraiya just mentally sighed to himself as he rolled his eyes and looked at Naruto. "Back your bags kid. We're going on a mission." He told the blond-haired boy.

"What kind of mission?" Naruto asked the sennin.

"We're going to find and bring back my old teammate, Tsunade, to be the Godaime Hokage." Jiraiya replied.

Naruto's eyes widened and he asked, "Is it really necessary to choose a new Hokage so soon?"

"Yes. Hopefully, peace talks with Suna will soon begin. We'll need a Hokage to sign the treaty. If peace talks don't start, we may be going to war and will need a Hokage to lead us in battle." Jiraiya told the young genin.

"What can you tell me about her?" Naruto asked wanting to know more about this woman they where going to go and find.

"She's one of the Sennin, my old teammate, granddaughter to the First Hokage, has incredible strength, and is said to be the greatest med-nin in the world." Jiraiya replied listing off the best known things about his teammate.

"She's a med-nin? Do you think she could help Lee?" Naruto asked remembering how his friend could no longer practice taijutsu due to his injuries.

"Gai's student right? Well, if anyone can, she can. Now, finish up here and back up your stuff. Meet me at the southern gate in 90 minutes and I'll teach you a new jutsu." Jiraiya said before leaving.

With the chance to learn a new jutsu at stake. Naruto wolfed down the rest of is ramen and ran to his apartment.

He quickly packed a bag and sent clones to Ibiki and Gai to explain his mission. On his way to the gate, Naruto decided to stop by the hospital and tell Lee the great news. Upon arriving in front of the door of the room Lee was in, Naruto knocked softly; just in case Lee was still sleeping as it was still early in the morning.

"Come in." came the sound of a very saddened voice inside.

Naruto opened the door and stepped inside to see his taijutsu partner, Lee sitting on the edge of his bed looking out the window. "How are you this morning Lee-kun?" Naruto asked him.

"I'm great." Lee replied in an obvious lie.

"Lee-kun, I can tell you're lying. Tell me how you're really doing." Naruto told him.

"Really? I'm sad. I just found out last night that there's no chance of me ever being a shinobi again. My dream to beat a genius and prove that you don't need ninjutsu and genjutsu to be a great shinobi is over." Lee answered his eyes downcast.

"Well, I've got some great news for you. I'm going on a mission to bring back Tsunade."

"Who's that?"

"Only the greatest med-nin in the world and are new Hokage. So, start fanning your '_flames of youth_' Lee-kun. You aren't done being a shinobi, yet."

"Are you really sure she can help me?" Lee asked with just the tiniest flicker of hope in his eyes.

"Yes, even if I have to go to the ends of the earth and beyond to drag her back to heal you. Even if, I have to heal you myself; you will become a great shinobi Lee. As your friend, I will do everything in my power to help you become a great shinobi. So, you just fan your flames of youth and train and I'll make sure you are healed." Naruto cried out.

"But, Naruto-kun how can I train with my injuries?" Lee asked.

"Your mind is not injured Lee-kun. I true taijutsu master trains not only his body, but also his mind. So build up your knowledge of taijutsu."

Lee looked at his friend with hope in his eyes fro the first time in a long time. "Do you really think it can happen?" Lee asked.

"Lee, as long as you aren't willing to give up your dreams it will happen." Naruto replied.

Before anymore could be said a knock was heard at the door. "Come in." Lee said towards the door.

The door opened to reveal a slim figured woman in a green kimono. "Oh, good morning, Naosu-san." Lee greeted the woman. Then, remembering that Naruto didn't know who this woman was, Lee introduced him to her. "Naruto-kun, this is Maito Naosu."

"Hello." Naruto greeted. Catching her family name Naruto asked, "Are you related to Gai-sensei?"

"Actually, I'm his wife." Naosu replied with a kind smile.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. He never would have thought Gai-sensei to be married.

"So, what are you boys doing up so early?" She asked the genins.

"Well, I'm going on a mission and decided to visit Lee-kun before I left. Which, I need to be doing now." Naruto aid as he grabbed his bag.

After saying good-bye to Lee and Naosu, Naruto made a henge and snuck into the library. Quickly he grabbed a few interesting looking scrolls off the shelf in the medical section of the library.

Jiraiya looked down the street to see a blur coming towards him. When it stopped and the dust settled, a panting Naruto was standing in front of him. "Not bad, gaki. You just made it. Looks like I will be teaching you a jutsu after all." Jiraiya replied as they left the gate.

At that moment, neither Jiraiya nor Naruto knew that two strange men had just set their gazes upon Konoha.

* * *

After a few hours of walking, Naruto and Jiraiya arrived in a town known as Hima. Upon arriving at the town Jiraiya checked them into a hotel room and told Naruto to go to the room and work on molding some chakra while he would go out and gather information. After the Sennin left, Naruto summoned 10 clones in the room and split them into two groups of 5. The first group began studying the medical jutsu book he took fro the library. The second worked on chakra control by walking up the walls and on the ceiling. Naruto himself then left the room and decided to wonder around town. He wasn't going to stay in, while Jiraiya was out chasing skirt.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking around Hima, Naruto came across a very interesting shop called, _Renka's Body Art Parlor_. He looked at the sign in front of the door saying, that since the store was being forced to close, a big sale was going on. He opened the door and saw that the walls of the store were covered in different drawings on the wall.

'_So this is a tattoo shop._' Naruto thought to himself, remembering Big Bear talking about them.

'_This place looks nice._' He thought, as a girl walked up to him.

"Can I help you?" She asked pleasantly. The girl was a bluenette with a height of 5". She looked to be about 14 and was well developed for her age. She also had her lip pierced with a silver ring contrasting nicely with her chocolate skin.

"Yes. My name's Naruto and I'd like to know more about tattoos. I'm thinking of getting one." Naruto replied.

"Well, my name's Renka and it's a pleasure to meet you Naruto. I've been doing tattoos all my live, so I know quite a bit about them. Tattoos are used for a verity of things; from showing allegiance to a certain faction to putting your personal information in case you're killed. However, the oldest purpose of tattoos was for simply expressing one's self." Renka explained.

Naruto paid attention to what she was saying and thought about the few tattoos he had seen. "So, do you own this place?" He asked her.

"I own this business; which isn't bad for an orphaned 14 year old. Unfortunately, I don't own the building. The current owner has decided to sell the building. So, my business has to go." Renka replied sadly.

"What kind of business arrangement do you have with the owner?"

"She wants 25 percent of the store's profit." Renka replied.

"What would you say to an owner that only asked for 5 percent?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I'd welcome that. But that would never come to pass."

"Where can I find the owner of this building?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, she lives just two streets over, on the north side. Her name is Rao." Renka replied. The young tattoo shop owner got a puzzled look on her face and asked, "Why would you want to know that?"

"Simple. I'm going to buy this building." Naruto replied with a grin.

Renka's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean you're going to buy this building?" She asked.

"I mean. I'm going to buy this building and you're going to be able to keep your business." Naruto replied. As he walked towards the door, Naruto said over his shoulder, "We'll talk about the business arrangements when I get back."

Renka looked at the retreating back of the blond with a feeling of skepticism. She was shocked when he returned 8 minutes later with the deed to the building in his had and his name as the owner on it.

"How?" She asked.

"I told you, I was going to buy it." Naruto replied with a grin. He then turned serious and asked, "Now, shall we talk about the business arrangement?"

"Sure. What do you want?"

"I want 4 things. First, I want 5 percent of the story's profit. Second, I want to know of any books you can recommend on learning about tattooing. Third, I would like to get a tattoo. And fourth, I may not look it, but I'm a shinobi-"

"I know. From Konoha." Renka replied interrupting him.

"How could you tell?"

"Your forehead protector, the fact that we're in the Land of Fire, and my parent's were shinobi. That's how I knew you were a shinobi right when you walked in." She replied, listing the ways she knew.

"Oh? Were your parents from Konoha?" Naruto asked.

"No. They were missing-nins from Mist." Renka answered sadly.

Hearing that, Naruto was able to figure out how her parents died.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't worry about it. They taught me what they could. They said I was at least a chunin rank in my fighting skill. That's why no one's ever tried to rob me." Renka said with a small smile.

"Impressive. As I was saying, I'm a shinobi. So, as you know there are shinobi clans and I am in the process of building one for me. When it comes to be a reality, instead of a dream, I would like to put my clan's symbol on the building. To marking this place as belonging to the Uzumaki clan." Naruto said, finishing his list of demands.

"Sure, none of that's a problem." Renka replied.

Naruto summoned two clones and had them write up the contract on two separate pieces of paper, but each one was word for word exact. With Renka satisfied with the contracts, they signed them both. Renka kept one paper and Naruto the other. Renka give Naruto a book titled, _The Art of Self Expression_.

"So, what kind of tattoo would you like?" Renka asked him.

"I would like to get a tattoo of the kanji for '_ice_' on my right chest." Naruto told her.

Renka took him to the back and had him remove his shirt, before sitting in the chair. She then cleaned his chest, where she'd be working, and sanitized it. Carefully, she began to tattoo him making each movement count. A few minutes later, Renka was done and taping a pad over the area where she worked.

As Naruto was putting his shirt on, he said, "Hey Renka, I know this may seem sudden, but with me trying to start a clan, I can adopt people into my clan. So, what I'm trying to say is, do you want to be adopted into the Uzumaki clan?"

"Why would you do that for me?" She asked quietly.

"I know what it's like to be alone and want a family. Even if, it's a family you're not related to by blood. Just so long as it's yours." He answered.

She had to admit he was right. Ever since her parents died, she had been feeling alone and wanted to be part of a family again. "I'd like that." Renka replied.

"You mean it?"

"Sure. I always wanted to have a family again." She said with a smile.

The two teens then left Renka's shop and walked a few blocks to the village's orphanage. Even though, she had never lived in the orphanage, Renka was still registered there. After a few minutes of talking to the head caretaker and an exchange of money, Renka was adopted and now went by, Uzumaki Renka. The two talked for a while longer, before Naruto had to say good-bye; promising to write her.

Naruto had to hurry back to the hotel room as Jiraiya was probably finishing his research and would return soon.

* * *

Upon arriving in the room, Naruto dispelled the clones and absorbed the knowledge they had of basic medical jutsu and the chakra control they had done. Naruto closed his fingers together, while keeping them extended, and began to summon his chakra to his hands. "So, this is how a chakra scalpel is done?" Naruto asked allowed to himself. "I think I still like a normal scalpel better." He said dispelling the chakra.

A couple of minutes later a knock was heard at the door. Thinking the old pervert had struck out; Naruto went to answer the door. He was surprised to see to men in black jackets with red clouds, instead of the old pervert. The most interesting thing about them was the fact that the man right in front of him had the sharingan in both eyes, like Sasuke. Naruto could tell that they were strong, far stronger than he was.

Naruto stepped into the hall after they mentioned the 9-tails. Sasuke appeared at that moment and confronted the other sharingan user, calling him Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke ran at him with his Chidori, but it was countered and Sasuke promptly got his ass kicked. Naruto tried to help by summoning one of the battle toads, but his chakra was removed by the other guy called, Hoshigaki Kisame. His sword, Samehada, was able to eat chakra.

Luckily Jiraiya appeared and had summoned an armor battle toad to defend against Kisame's Samehada. Jiraiya and the two men talked for a moment and it was revealed that Naruto was a target for an origination called Akatsuki. Jiraiya was about to engage them both in battle, until Sasuke stood and said not to interfere.

Sasuke ran at Itachi, intending to kill him. Only to once again, get his ass handed to him. Over and over Itachi beat him. Until finally, Itachi grabbed him by his collar and slammed Sasuke into the wall. Itachi stared into Sasuke's eyes with his sharingan and seemed to be doing something to him.

Naruto rushed forward, to try and help his friend. With his sudden movement, Kisame ran after him. However, they both stopped as they each saw that the walls were becoming fleshy pink in color. It seemed that Jiraiya, had somehow, summoned the stomach of a giant frog around them.

Itachi and Kisame then ran for it. They turned the corner at the end of the hall and a moment later the room was shaking. Jiraiya ran after them, to see what had happened, only to discover that they had done what was suppose to be impossible and break out of the toad's stomach. There were strange black flames around the exit they had made. Jiraiya quickly sealed them in a small scroll and then they turned their attention on Sasuke.

As Naruto caught Sasuke, Jiraiya released the jutsu he used to summon the toad's stomach. Before Jiraiya could say anything, a kunai appeared on the wall. Jiraiya turned around to confront the attacker behind them and was greeted with a foot to the face; curtsey of Gai. Jiraiya then lectured Gai for a moment, before saying that they needed to get Sasuke to the Konoha hospital. He was badly beaten up, had a broken arm, and there was what ever that jutsu by Itachi was. Sasuke's mental state was shut down.

Gai mentioned that they needed a supreme healer in Konoha, which is when Jiraiya told him that they were going to find Tsunade, The Legendary Sucker. Gai then left to return to Konoha, as Jiraiya and Naruto headed on.

After a few more hours of traveling they came to a larger town by the name of, Yorksha. **A/N: The town was never named in the anime, so I made up a name for it.** The town was currently having a festival. Jiraiya told him that they'd be doing staying for the festival and a little after to gather information and start Naruto's training. Jiraiya checked them into a hotel room and gave Naruto the rest of the day to enjoy the festival as he needed to gather information.

Naruto decided to try the interesting foods at the festival. Getting everything from Takoyaki to Yakisoba and everything in between. After spending the next couple of hours gorging himself on food, Naruto went around and played several of different festival games. With the sun starting to set, Naruto headed to the hotel room.

* * *

As Naruto was staring up at the ceiling, he thought over what had happened the past few days. '_I can't believe I beat Shukaku. Who would have guessed that the Ichibi was so weak?_' He thought to himself.

'_**That's because you didn't fight Ichibi, you twit.**_' Came the voice of Kyuubi from with in him.

'_Hey Kyuubi, where have you be- What a minute, what do you mean I didn't beat Ichibi? Shukaku, is the Ichibi._'

'_**I've been here, inside of you. I've just been sleeping. Shukaku isn't the Ichibi, even though so many people think so. Shukaku, is the name of an insane priest, who about 500 years ago decided to make a jinchuriki in the reverse way. Instead of the demon being sealed in the human, it would be the human sealed in the demon. This, however, is a very bad idea to do with a biju demon. We biju demons are different from other demons, as we living forms of what you call chakra. So, when Shukaku sealed himself in Ichbi, it greatly weakened the demon and drove it to being insane like the priest. If Ichibi didn't have that problem, you would have been crushed. It would take a massive amount of power to beat Ichibi.**_' Kyuubi explained.

'_This, coming from the fox that got beaten by the Fourth Hokage?_'

'_**LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT, YOUR BELOVED FOURTH WASN'T THE ONLY ONE FIGHTING ME THAT NIGHT. BESIDES, I WASN'T IN CONTROL DURING THAT FIGHT. IF I HAD BEEN, YOU VILLAGE WOULD HAVE BEEN WASTED JUST LIKE THE REST. YOU'VE HEARD THE STORIES; WITH ONE TAIL I CAN LEVEL A MOUNTIAN. It took your entire village, Fourth Hokage included, just to get a controlled me; sealed inside of you. So, do not ever think that the biju are weak or I will kill you!!**_' Kyuubi roared back.

'_Alright, alright. No need to yell. So, what's with this Shukaku guy?_' Naruto asked.

'_**Shukaku was, as I already said, an insane priest from the desert temples some 500 years ago. If Shukaku was removed from Ichibi, which is inside this Gaara kid, the insanity would stop and the Suna boy would be fine. He'd even be able to sleep, which is what Ichibi was famous for.**_'

'_By the way Kyuubi, those transformations that Gaara was able to do, can we do anything like that?_'

'_**In time, we should be able to. However, it will take work. Currently, you aren't ready for it and would go insane. Even worse than what Shukaku was doing.**_'

'_Also, do you know if there is a kitsune summoning contract?_'

'_**Why? Are you hoping I'm somehow the boss summon, so you can call me out?**_'

'_No. It's just with how the fight with Shukaku went with using Gamabunta. I think it would be best to expand my summing abilities._'

'_**Smart decision, mortal. However, you shouldn't sign anymore than two summoning contracts, as you only have two hands.**_'

'_I thought so. So, why were you asleep for the last few days?_' Naruto asked curiously.

'_**I decided to sleep, that's why. Forgive me, if I'm not awake for every little thing that happens in your life.**_' Kyuubi snorted back.

'_Whatever. Anyway, you were right about someone wanting to use your power. Earlier, today, two men tried to capture me, to get to you. They're an organization that goes by the name Akatsuki._'

'_**Good. At least now, we have a name.**_' Kyuubi said, before going silent.

After talking for a few more minutes of thinking, Naruto rolled over and started sleeping, dreaming of ramen and red and sandy blond-haired girls.

* * *

Temari sighed to herself softly as she gazed out across the barren desert that surrounded her village. It had taken the surviving shinobi from the invasion a little over 24 hours to return to the village. Along the way back, one of the jounin stopped near a canyon and found the Kazekage's body. After what happed with her mother, to Gaara and with how cold he was, Temari just couldn't bring herself to think of him as her father. Even though, he was. From what the jounin could tell, he had been dead before the chunin exam even started.

When it was discovered that they had been tricked by Orochimaru, her village's council had sent a messenger hawk to Konoha declaring a public surrender and asking to discuss a new treaty agreement. The hawk had been sent a couple of days ago and Konoha's reply was to come any day now.

Temari had also received a letter from Karui asking what the hell she was hearing about an invasion. So, Temari sent the girl a reply telling her everything. After all, it was all in the open now. Hopefully, Karui would understand. It was a price that had to be paid for being a ninja.

But, the strangest of all things was her brother Gaara. Over the past 5 days he had been acting _human_. There hadn't been any sort of killing intent from him, no one was dead, and he wasn't walking around with his sand gourd and he always walked around with his sand gourd. Temari found herself wondering multiple times, just what did that Naruto guy do to her younger brother. She wondered just what he was and how was he able to bring about such a change in Gaara? Just this morning, Gaara had made them cinnamon spice pancakes. When Temari asked him about it, he said it would be a nice thing to do.

Temari stood up and brushed the sand off her battle kimono as she headed back into the village. She quietly wondered what changes the failed invasion was going to bring about.

'_Ah well, who cares? I doubt that any of the changes are going to effect me. Now, to get home, go to my room, close the door, and spend some time with the newest volume of Puni Puni: Island._' Temari thought to herself, smirking as she thought of the newest little purple book she had bought.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the heart of Suna was the Kazekage Tower. Inside the Kazekage Tower, the full Suna council was going over the reply they had received late last night from Konoha. It seemed like the Leaf-nins weren't so eager to join a new alliance with the Sand-nins. Which was understandable after what happened.

The elders were arguing over how best to prove their honesty in the new treaty and so far, no progress was being made to find a way to show it. They knew that Konoha was in a weakened state, like them. However, Konoha had already sent the legendary Sennin Jiraiya, to fetch the next Hokage. So, Konoha would soon be even stronger.

"My fellow elders," spoke one old man as he addressed the eleven people in the room with him. "It seems that no matter what we say, it will not be good enough to prove our honest and sincerity in this new treaty in writing. We must prove ourselves with action."

"What would you recommend then?" asked an elder next to him.

"I suggest we call for a Blood Joining Alliance." He replied.

Several of the elders widened their eyes in surprise. A Blood Joining Alliance hadn't been used since before the founding of the shinobi villages. The alliance would join two clans together through marriage. As more people got married, due to the alliance, the group of shinobi got bigger, until eventually they settled. When the shinobi groups began to settle, that's how the formations of the Hidden Villages came to be. At the First Kage Summit, it was agreed by all five kages that the Blood Joining Alliance would stay.

The council began to talk again, this time suggesting who they should ask for to be the groom. Even though the alliance would dictate that they send one of theirs to Konoha to marry, Suna would be allowed to pick the groom. Several names were thrown out, everything from Hyuuga to the last Uchiha. Suddenly, a voice rang out over them saying, "Uzumaki Naruto."

The others turned to the speaker and one asked what the rest were thinking, "Who?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konoha. Graduated dead last of his class, showed no overly great performance at the Konoha Academy, and nearly failed every written test. He is an orphan with unknown heritage. However, his sensei is the legendary Hatake Kakashi, he has been allowed to sign the toad summoning contract, mastered Kage Bunshin, has an excellent battle knowledge, was able to unseal a Hyuuga branch member, and is apprenticed to Jiraiya."

The others had to admit, despite his short comings, the boy was appealing. "How do you know all of this, about a boy that is so unknown?" An elder asked.

"I received this information from the report Temari filed on Gaara's defeat to this Uzumaki Naruto fellow." The man replied.

At that moment, everything was so quiet in the room that air seemed to get heavy with tension. Each of the elders were thinking on what had just been said; Gaara, beaten? That wasn't possible. It couldn't be possible. Cause if it was, then that would mean that there was someone out there even stronger than the strongest shinobi in all of Suna.

"How does Temari know this Naruto, beat Gaara?" A skeptical elder asked.

"She was a witness to the fight. When our scout sent word of Jiraiya leaving, it was also reported that Uzumaki Naruto left with him. This young genin is growing strong. He could become the next Yellow Flash of Konoha." He explained.

The elders thought for a moment. That would make for a good political move, in the long run. They then agreed that Uzumaki Naruto would be their choice for the groom. Now the real problem started. Who would they send as the bride? They began to argue over different girls for nearly half an hour. Since Suna had a high surplus of kunoichi, there were several names mentioned. It wasn't until the height of the argument that an old voice yelled above them, "Shut up, you babbling idiots!!" Everyone turned to the head of the table to see that Ebizo, the eldest of the them, had spoken. Ebizo, was the eldest elder on the village council, just a minute older than his sister, Chiyo. **A/N: I know. Chiyo is the older of the two in canon, but I decided to change it for my story.** Everyone looked at him, waiting to see what the silent elder had to say.

"We shall have Temari, be the bride." He replied. Before anyone could protest, he continued by saying, "She is one of our strongest genin kunoichi, she is the eldest child of our late Kazekage-sama, and picking her as the bride would truly show our sincerity for the new treaty."

The rest thought on his words, as he did have a point. Besides, they needed this new alliance to be forged as soon a possible. Rumors were spreading that Grass might be getting ready to move. They talked a while longer, deciding what to write in response to Konoha. Once the talking was done and the scroll complete, they sent it off with Suna's fastest messenger hawk to Konoha.

* * *

A several hours later, the three elders of the Konoha Village Council were meeting to discuss what had been sent to them from the Suna Council. The first two elders were the Third Hokage's old teammates, Homura and Koharu. The last elder was a man. He was slightly younger than the others, but still old enough. He had several bandages wrapped around his forehead and over the right side of his face. He also had two scars on his chin in the shape of an '_X_'. Danzo, was the name of this man.

"Well, what are your thoughts on this?" Homura asked Koharu and Danzo.

"They certainly seem honest about wanting a new treaty with us. I just can't help but wonder why they choose to have that _boy_ as the intended groom. The Hyuuga clan or the last Uchiha would have been better suited for this." Koharu relied.

"If they had picked the Hyuuga clan or the last Uchiha, I would be suspicious of them. Thinking that they were trying to get clan secrets or possibly kill an important clan member. However, they are not so I say we agree to it. This could also, be good for Konoha in the long run." Danzo said, giving his view.

"How do you figure that?" Homura asked him.

"This Temari is one of Suna's strongest genin. With the _boy's_ chakra composite, any children they have will be extremely strong." Danzo answered.

"I see. If you couldn't get the _boy_ as your weapon, you'll breed him then. Is that it?" Koharu asked, shooting a glare at Danzo.

Danzo silently shrugged his shoulders in reply.

Koharu broke her glare form Danzo and asked, "Could they know of the Kyuubi?"

"I doubt it." Homura answered. He then continued, saying, "Hiruzen, made sure that that knowledge was kept secret. Have you forgotten the first few days after the sealing?"

Koharu had to grimace at the memory. Several citizens of Konoha hadn't taken what the Third said about the law seriously and voiced their opinions about it and openly talked about the demon in the boy. Very quickly after that, they were executed. 150 people were executed just days after losing slightly over a thousand people. After seeing this, everyone thought it would be best to obey the law.

"Are we in agreement then?" Homura asked.

Seeing the other two nod in agreement, the three elders began to draft their reply to the Suna Council. A few hours later they sent their reply to Suna.

* * *

The next day, Jiraiya took Naruto to a small clearing in the forest that was on a cliff over looking Yorksha to start Naruto's training. Naruto had checked two more rooms and left some clones, in them, to study. At first, Naruto was slightly impressed with the ball of chakra. However, it wasn't until Jiraiya slammed it into a nearby tree and obliterated the tree, that he became ecstatic.

And so, over the next several hours, Naruto spent the day trying to pop the water balloon he had been given. Eventually the sun was starting to set and Jiraiya went back to the hotel room, as Naruto decided to stay behind to train. The only other thing in the small clearing, besides Naruto, was a small group of foxes that had appeared and watched Naruto.

Naruto sat on the forest floor, trying to figure out what he was doing wrong. As he was thinking, one of the young fox kits poked its nose into the bag of water balloons Naruto had next to him and was able to get one of them out. He young fox then began to bat the ball back and fourth, as he was bored.

Naruto heard the noise and looked to see what the fox was doing. As he moved to stop the fox, the water balloon broke and gave Naruto an idea. As he started to rotate the water one way, he began to rotate it in the same direction, but in another position. Soon the balloon was vibrating and then it popped; splashing water on Naruto. Naruto grinned to himself at his success.

The next morning, he showed his success to Jiraiya, who congratulated him and give him the next stage to do. This time, he had to pop a rubber ball. Over and over, Naruto tried with little success to pop the ball. In the end, all he did was exhaust himself. After several days of no luck, with popping the balloon, Naruto decided to try summoning a fox.

He was alone for the day, so there would be no problem of having interruptions. After walking a short ways away from his normal training ground, Naruto bit his left thumb and began to perform the hand seals to summon. Except, he was concentrating on summoning a fox; instead of a toad.

A poof of smoke was seen and a pop was heard from where Naruto slammed his hand onto the ground. When the smoke cleared, Naruto found himself looking at a small white fox, no bigger than Akamaru, with gold eyes.

"Hey… Are you a human?" The small fox asked.

"Um, yes. My name's Naruto. What's yours?" Naruto asked the fox.

"My name's Coco, Naruto-san. This is my first time seeing a human. Papa says that a human hasn't summoned a fox in over a hundred and fifty years." Coco answered.

"Well, I'm hoping to sign the Fox Summoning Contract, if I can. Do you know, which fox I should talk to; to see about signing it?"

"You can talk to Papa, as he's the boss. I'll summon him for you." Coco said. The small fox, then gathered chakra into it's tail and slammed in onto the ground. A much louder pop was heard and a greater amount of smoke appeared.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto saw a shadow covering him. Slowly, he turned his head up to stare into the dark purple eyes of a large black furred fox. '_I guess this would be the boss._' Naruto thought with a gulp; those teeth were far to sharp.

"Did you summon me, human?" The deep rumbling voice of the fox asked.

"No, Papa. That was me that summoned you." Coco replied, jumping on Naruto's head.

"Coco-chan, what are you doing here?" The large fox asked.

"This human summoned me, Papa. An actual human, summoned me." She gushed happily, as though it was a big honor.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I was hoping I could sign the Fox Summoning Contract." Naruto said to the fox.

"I am Kocho and no, you may not sign our summoning contract." Kocho replied.

"But, why Papa?" Whined Coco.

"The summoner of the foxes must be strong enough to summon the head fox; in order to sign." Kocho replied, before continuing, "Now, good-bye weakling." The large fox then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance. No one called him weak, summon boss or not. Biting his thumb again and blurring through the hand seals, Naruto slammed his hand, while pouring all the chakra he could into it, onto the ground. A loud poof was heard as Kocho returned.

"What?" Kocho gasped out at being summoned for a second time. Looking down, he saw the wide eyes of his daughter and the human, Naruto. "Coco, why did you summon me again?" He asked.

"I didn't summon you Papa." Coco replied, amazement filling her voice.

"I summoned you." Naruto said to the fox. He then grabbed a part of Kocho's furry snout and lowered the fox to his level and asked, "Now, what was that about me being weak?"

"You have a lot of guts to challenge me, boy." Kocho replied, bearing his fangs.

"Hey, I get enough lip from the fox sealed inside me. I don't need it from you."

"What fox?" Kocho asked, his curiosity wanting to know how a fox could be in a human.

"I'm the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Kitsune." Naruto answered.

"Ah, the demon." Kocho summarized. He and the other foxes had heard about the supposed '_death_' of the 9 tailed fox. They knew that something like that fox couldn't be killed. The only way to truly stop him was to seal him. However, he never thought he'd be looking at the demon's holder.

Kocho broke the boy's grasp from his fur and looked deeply into the sea blue eyes of Naruto. His own eyes began to glow purple, as he continued to look. He then closed his eyes and sighed as he thought.

When the fox's eyes started to glow, Naruto couldn't look away. He stared at Kocho, as the large fox closed it's eyes and began to think. "Um…" Was the best he could do, for starting a conversation.

"What I just did was look through your life Uzumaki-san. I see that you are vastly different than from what I would have expected. Especially, with all of that hatred from the villagers. After looking at your life, I see that you are strong enough to be a summoner for the foxes, so I'll let you sign." Kocho said.

Naruto was ecstatic, at being allowed to summon the foxes. "However, I have a request of you and a gift to give you." Kocho said intruppting his thoughts.

"My request, is that you take the Fox Summoning Contract with you and let the members of your future family sign it. We foxes have been forgotten for far to long and I want people to acknowledge us once again. Understand?" Kocho requested of him.

Naruto nodded his head. He could understand the fox's want to be acknowledged.

"My gift for you is another bloodline, seeing as how you collect them. It was collected by one of my children nearly 156 years ago. We only know the name of the bloodline, not what it does. Also, there are no more users of this bloodline, so you'll be alone in trying to figure out what it does. The bloodline is called, Kouingan." Kocho told him, as he called a vial to the ground in front of them.

'_Seduction eye?_' Naruto thought to himself.

'_**Take it. It will be a good dojutsu, for later.**_' Rumbled the voice of Kyuubi.

Naruto nodded he head and signed the Fox Summoning Contract. He then took the vial and the contract scroll, as Kocho and Coco dispelled themselves. Naruto then popped the top of the vial and began to split the D.N.A. Afterwards, he blinked a syringe into his hand and filled the barrel with it.

'_So, what is the Kouingan?_' Naruto asked the 9-tails wanting to know exactly what he was about to put into himself.

'_**The Kouingan, is one of seven dojutsu bloodline limits and it can indeed seduce your opponent. However, it can also terrify them. It is similar to how the Byakugan lets it user see an opponent's chakra pathways. The Kouingan will let you see your opponent's nervous system. With this you can bring someone to the peak of pleasure and keep them there or you can destroy their mind with terror. It will take you awhile to learn, so we'll train on it later.**_' Kyuubi told her jailer.

'_There are seven dojutsu bloodline limits? I thought there were only two?_' Naruto commented.

'_**In Konoha, there are two. That doesn't mean that they're the only dojutsu in the world.**_' Kyuubi told him, rolling her unseen eyes.

Naruto nodded his head and then injected the D.N.A. into his body. After a few minutes of pain, Naruto stood up and went to go have some lunch in town.

* * *

As Naruto was heading to a restaurant close to the hotel, he heard some people arguing. Turning his head to look on at the arguers, he was surprised to see that the four of them were shinobi from Takigakure. It appeared to be a genin team with their jounin sensei. The interesting thing was that one of the genin had a high white top, armlets, and shorts. She had bright green hair and pink eyes. Naruto know that it was Fu, from the picture she had sent of herself in her last letter.

"Hey Fu-imoto-chan!!" Naruto yelled out to her.

Fu turned away from her teammates, who just couldn't understand that ramen was the best choice for lunch, to see who was calling her she looked down the street, she saw that a blond-haired guy with three whisker marks on each cheek was waving at her. "Naruto-nii-kun!" She yelled back excitedly and ran towards him.

Fu's team, a tall girl with purple hair, an average height girl with red hair, and a well figured jounin kunoichi with orange hair, watched as she ran towards some strange blond and called him her older brother. '_What is that girl doing?_' thought he jounin sensei.

"What are you doing here?" asked Fu.

"I'm traveling with Jiraiya, to find the Fifth Hokage. The Third was killed in battle a little over a week ago. I'm training here while he's gatering information. Currently, I'm going to lunch." Naruto told her.

Before Fu, could say anything a voice behind her spoke. "Who's this Fu-san?"

The two looked to see that Fu's team was staring at them.

"Oh, Edo-sensei. This is my brother, Uzumaki Naruto." Fu told her sensei.

"How can he be your brother if he has a different family name than you, doesn't look anything like you, and is clearly a Konoha-nin?" asked the tall purple haired girl.

"Do they know?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah, the whole village knows about Nanabi being sealed inside of me." Fu answered. Her team tensed as Fu answered village sensitive information. Sure, everyone in the village knew, but no one outside of the village should have known. It looked like they would have to kill this Naruto guy.

Naruto turned to Fu's team and said, "I'm her brother, because we share something that makes us unique to all other shinobi. Also, I'm called her _older_ brother for a reason."

Their eyes widened. "You mean…?" asked the other girl.

"Yep." Naruto replied confirming their suspicions. Naruto then turned back to Fu and asked, "So, what are you doing here?"

"We're on a mission, but we decided to stop here and have lunch." Fu said.

"Care to join me?" Naruto asked her and then continued saying, "I've also got something for you."

And so, Fu and her team had lunch with Naruto. After lunch, He let her sign the Fox Summoning Contract with her left hand. They then parted ways, as Naruto went back to training and Fu and her team continued on with their mission.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the forests of the Land of Rice Fields, in an underground hideout, Orochimaru was being lowered into a chair with the help of Kabuto.

"Damn… That asshole… Sarutobi…" He gasped out as he reclined his head. The pain in his arms was unbearable. They felt as though they were both on fire and ice cold at the same time. He was unable to move his fingers and moving them at the elbow took all of the energy he had.

"Well… It wasn't going to be that easy to do." Kabuto commanted. The young medic then continued, "It is said that Sarutobi-san wa the strongest of the five kages. However, it is still impressive. This also, makes it two out of the five kages…" Kabuto would have kept talking, but he soon saw that he was on the receiving end of Orochimaru's killing intent.

"Stop saying words to comfort me or I'll kill you…" Orochimaru growled out at his subordinate.

"Of course… That was not my intention. True, we may have failed to destroy Konoha, but we were able to accomplish the plans in regards to Uchiha Sasuke."

Orochimaru laughed bitterly to himself. "These arms and all of my jutsus in exchange for that." He said as he gazed down at his hands.

"Have they found her?" Orochimaru then asked.

"Not yet, Orochimaru-sama. However, we should soon find her." Kabuto answered.

**Suna**

**A couple of weeks later**

"THEY WANT ME TO WHAT?" A female voice rang out from the heart of Suna, inside the house of the late Yondaime Kazekage; now called the Sabaku household.

Temari stared at her sensei, Baki, trying to process what he had just told her. She was sitting in the living room with her brothers. She sat in the armchair; while, Kankuro sat on the couch. He was wearing simple black shinobi pants with a baggy black t-shirt. On the t-shirt was the insignia of Suna in silver. Gaara was leaning against the wall. Ever since his fight with that Uzumaki boy, Gaara had changed. Sure he was as quite and impassive as ever, but no longer did he kill at the drop of a hat. In fact, he hadn't killed anyone since that day. He walked around the village with out his gourd. Even the normal fear the villagers had around Gaara had decreased.

"Temari, it's from the council. I had nothing to do with this decision. They told me to tell you; to help prepare you for what is going to come." Baki told his oldest student with a sigh.

"I don't care who it's from." Temari shouted back. She seethed in her anger for a moment before asking, "Why the hell are they sending me anyways?"

"You are one of Suna's top genin kunoichi, daughter to the late Kazekage, and you're a symbol that we truly mean peace." Baki told her listing the reasons that she was picked.

"Great… So, I get to be the village's scapegoat?" She asked sarcastically.

"Well no, but you at least get the idea. Even though we were tricked, Suna still broke the treaty with Konoha. We need to repair our relationship with them. It will take years, possibly, to get back the strength that was lost. Suna cannot afford to be in a full blown war with Konoha." Baki reasoned to her.

Temari knew he was right, she just didn't have to like it. If this marriage wasn't done, Suna could be going to war with Konoha. While the two major villages fought each other, others would try to put a knife in their back. She always knew that as the kage's daughter this could one day happen. She just never thought that it would happen so soon. "Any clue as to who the groom is?" She asked, staring down at the floor.

"No. We won't know until, Konoha's Godaime Hokage takes the position. So, you'll still have some time here. However, you are to start reading up on Konoha's clans and customs." Baki instructed her.

Temari sighed as Baki left the Suna siblings. "Should, whomever they pick, hurt you… I'll kill him." Gaara said after the door closed.

Temari turned to look at Gaara. For the longest time, Gaara killed only for himself. Never before had he done anything like this. In Gaara's own odd way, he was saying that he cared what happened to her. She smiled at him and said, "Thank you, Gaara-kun."

"You're our big sister Temari, what did you expect from us?" Kankuro asked.

"Family is important and I won't let anyone hurt my family." Gaara said nodding in agreement with his older brother.

Temari was touched by what her brothers said and for the first time in years, she hugged them. Both Kankuro and Gaara were surprised by this. Kankuro, at least, showed his surprise.

It seemed that the rift between them was starting to heal. It was unfortunate that this peace treaty would tear them apart. Hopefully, they would have enough time to talk before Temari had to leave.

**The Land of Fire**

**A couple of days later**

Naruto grunted in anger, as he tried the third step of mastering the Rasengan. This step was much harder than the last two combined, which is what the third step happed to be. Naruto had to combine the first two together and not pop the balloon. He'd get this jutsu though. Then he'd be one step closer to making Jiraiya keep his promise.

_**Flashback no Jutsu**_

_Naruto and Jiraiya were sitting on the ground, both eating a popsicle that Jiraiya had brought with him to celebrate Naruto's success with completing the second step._

"_Hey Jiraiya, can I ask you something?" Naruto asked him, as he stared up into the sky._

_Jiraiya looked at the boy sitting next to him. Naruto had never addressed him so formally. Whatever was on the brat's mind seemed to be important. "Sure gaki." He answered._

"_Why are you doing this? Why are you teaching me these jutsus and taking me on as your apprentice?" Naruto asked the Toad Sennin._

_Jiraiya stared at Naruto, before sighing. He hadn't expected such a deep question from the kid. "I'll tell you. However, you must let me give my complete answer, no interruptions."_

_Naruto nodded his head in understanding._

"_I'm doing this, cause I knew your parents." Jiraiya said._

_Naruto's eyes widened in shock. His body started to go numb at what he was told._

"_Before you get your hopes up, I'm not going to tell you who they were." Jiraiya continued._

_Naruto felt his world shatter. He was so close. So close to having answers. He couldn't be denied._

"_The reason I'm not telling you, is because your parents made a lot of enemies before that night 13 years ago. There's only two ways that you'll get to know. First, you become a jounin. Second, you turn 21. Although, I might be willing to let it slip, if you can complete a third task before either of those." Jiraiya said, looking at Naruto to see his reaction._

_Naruto didn't want to what until he became a jounin or turned 21, so hopefully this third option would be the best choice. He nodded his head for Jiraiya to continue._

"_The reasons for the first two options is to make sure you're strong enough when the information is made public or at least of inheritance age. However, I'll tell you if you can do these three simple things. Take on a team of jounin, defeat 100 shinobi of various levels all at the same time and not kill or seriously injure them, and master 1,000 jutsu. This will prove that you are strong, able to control your strength, and that you have a wide array of attacks at your disposal." Jiraiya told him._

_Naruto could see his point. He had to admit, this third option sounded hard, but it was better than the first two. "Alright, I'll do that one. I just wish I had something from them." Naruto said._

_Jiraiya thought for a moment and unsealed a scroll and handed it to him. "There's nothing in it about your parents, but they wrote it just before the attack." He explained as Naruto took the scroll._

_Naruto broke the seal and read the heading,_ Top Ten Rules to be a Badass Shinobi. _Well, at least they had a sense of humor._

10. Always dress apart. Find your own look.

9. Don't focus on only one type of jutsu, diversify yourself. Have several jutsus.

8. Be original when you create your own jutsus.

7. Don't be an asshole. No one likes them.

6. You don't need to know every jutsu out there.

5. Never let others decide how you should be. Always be who you are.

4. The same with number 7, no one like a whiner.

3. Be loyal to friends and family.

2. Stay true to yourself.

1. Do not be ashamed of being the jinchuriki of Kyuubi no Kitsune. Use it or don't use it, but never be ashamed.

_Naruto felt tears well up in his eyes. He forced them back down, as he wouldn't allow himself to cry. He took what was written to heart and vowed that the Uzumaki clan would be heavily influenced by this list._

"_Thanks, Jiraiya-san." Naruto said, carefully rolling up the list and placing it in his pocket._

_**End Falashback no Jutsu**_

Naruto grabbed another balloon and started once again. He'd master this and other jutsus fight his opponents and one day learn who he came from.

* * *

The trip to Tanzaku Quarters went peacefully enough. Eventually, they found the _legendary_ Tsunade at a random bar that Jiraiya had picked for dinner. She seemed to be drunk, which didn't impress Naruto. At least, the woman and pig next to her where perfectly sober. For the first few minutes, the five of them ate in silence. It wasn't until Jiraiya told her about the village wanting her to be Godaime Hokage that things seemed to take on a different tone. Tsunade said that she knew about the Third's death as she was informed by Orochimaru himself. She then asked who Naruto was. Her eyes widened slightly, when Jiraiya told her.

When Tsunade refused to be the Fifth, Naruto asked why they were sticking around. Jiraiya told him that she was the only one capable of becoming the Fifth and that it was the decision of the advisors. Something of which, a genin shouldn't comment on. Tsunade then began to slowly, but surely, insult the previous holders of the title Hokage. She placed her cards on the table, leaned her head back and called the position of Hokage a piece of crap.

Naruto then leapt across the table, intent on breaking her face. Or at least he would have, if Jiraiya hadn't been holding him by the back of his jacket. Seeing that he wasn't able to reach her, Naruto blinked Raijin into his hands and called forth the electrical blade. The blade was mere inches from Tsunade when Naruto declared that he'd crush anyone who insulted the position of Hokage and the sacrifices the past ones made. Tsunade then stood and looked Naruto in the eye and told him to step outside.

After a brief street fight, in which Naruto tried to use the Rasengan and got beaten. Tsunade bet him that he couldn't master it in a week. However, on the off chance that he did, she'd give him her necklace. Naruto learned that the necklace belongs to the First Hokage and could buy three mountains. Later, he learned from Shizune, that the necklace seemed to call death to it. Now, Naruto really wanted to win the bet.

Naruto left the hotel and found a field to practice in. He summoned 20 clones and began to work on mastering the Rasengan. For the next week that was all he did. He never even left the field, unless it was for food. He trained there and slept there. Nearly a week had gone by when he passed out from chakra exhaustion. Naruto awoke the next morning to find himself in his hotel room with Tsunade's pet pig, Ton-ton, and her assistant, Shizune.

As Shizune was about to leave a kunai stopped her, she saw that Jiraiya was there and he seemed to have been poisoned. Jiraiya told her that Tsunade had poisoned him and demanded to know everything that happened during the meeting between Tsunade and Orochimaru. Shizune, gave in and told him everything; about how Orochimaru promised to revive Tsunade's dead brother and lover. Jiraiya said that they had to stop her and the three of them took off for remains of Tanzaku Castle, where Tsunade would be meeting Orochimaru.

When they arrived, they looked at the scene and realized that Tsunade turned down Orochimaru's offer and engaged him in a fight. Using Ton-ton's sense of smell and followed after the trail that Tsunade had left.

Soon, they found that she was in the middle of a fight with Kabuto. Naruto was surprised to see the silver-haired genin from the Chunin Exam fighting against Tsunade. Kabuto said that Naruto was to thickheaded to be a shinobi and that is why he wasn't a challenge for Sasuke. Jiraiya indicated to the forehead protector. Kabuto then admitted to being a sound spy.

Kabuto continued talking, saying that Naruto only relied on the demon sealed inside of him. Compared to the three legendary Sennin, he was nothing more than a worthless, out of place genin.

Naruto was getting sick and tired of listening to everyone's talk about underestimating him, so he blinked Kubikiri onto his arm and launched the massive sword at Kabuto. Needless to say, Kabuto was surprised, as was everyone else, and barely jumped out of the way.

Jiraiya told him to guard Tsunade and the pig. He then engaged Orochimaru in battle, while Shizune took on Kabuto. Jiraiya was still having problems molding his chakra, as he wasn't able to form a full swamp to submerge large snake Orochimaru had summoned.

For a while it seemed that Shizune was on an even footing with Kabuto, but soon the fight turned to his favor. He was able to sneak up on her from underground and cut the ligaments in her legs. With Shizune no longer a threat, Kabuto made his way toward Tsunade.

As Kabuto was about to start hitting Tsunade, Naruto jumped in between them. Naruto was a bit scruffy from his almost getting swallowed by the snake, but he was able to get out and got a new jar of poison from the snake. Kabuto then thrust his kunai forward and Naruto caught it, holding Kabuto in place by the hand. Naruto stretched out his hand and began to gather his chakra, swirling it all around his hand in the form of a ball.

Tsunade watched as Naruto slammed a fully formed Rasengan into Kabuto's stomach. The brat had actually done it. He mastered the Rasengan in a week. Seeing Naruto fall back, Tsunade went over to him and discovered that his heart was stopping. She then realized that Kabuto had cut the chakra off around his heart and injured him. As she began to heal him, Naruto opened his eyes and grabbed at the necklace saying he won the bet. His hand then fell as he lost consciousness.

Naruto awoke a few minutes later to see Gamabunta fighting with a large purple snake. There was also a giant slug that seemed to be helping Gamabunta. His eyes widened and he saw Tsunade shove Gamabunta's dagger down on the snake's mouth. Naruto summoned a clone and sent him over to the large snake that had apparently been killed, by having it's head under the murky earth from Jiraiya's swamp. Naruto himself went to collect poison from the large purple snake. After getting the poison, the large snake dispelled itself. Gamabunta and the slug soon followed suit; seeing as there was no point in being there.

With his summons gone and clearly being outmatched, Orochimaru then fled. Kabuto quickly followed suit, knowing he wasn't a match for two Sennin. Especially, in his injured state.

Seeing that Orochimaru and Kabuto were gone, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Naruto, Shizune, and Ton-ton headed back to the hotel. Both Tsunade and Jiraiya would need to recover before heading back to Konoha. Jiraiya was still suffering from his poisoned state and Tsunade from having used her Sozo Saisei after taking Orochimaru's sword, Kusanagi, straight through the chest. After a day of resting, they would head back to the village; were Tsunade would take up the mantle of Hokage.

* * *

Iruka sighed to himself as he stood outside of an apartment door. Ever since Anko had told him that she was pregnant during the invasion he had tried to talk to her, but it was hard to find the time with all of the repairs, double missions, and increased students at the academy. Tonight he had decided to go over to her place to talk to her about it. Iruka raised his hand and knocked on Anko's door.

Anko walked to her door, upon hearing the knocking, and looked through the peephole. Seeing that it was Iruka she opened the door. The two young adults stared at each other for a moment before Anko asked, "Do you want to come in?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Iruka replied.

The two went inside and sat on Anko's couch. "I take it you can guess why I'm here?" Iruka asked.

"Yep. I've decided I'm going to keep it. I know I'm not mother material, but I refuse to kill it." Anko relied.

"That's good. I'm glad you decided to keep it. However, I always thought you'd make a great mother."

"You think so? I am Konoha's snake mistress, after all."

"Yes, I do think so. But now, what about us? Having a baby is going to change our relationship."

"Well, what do you suggest we do?"

"I've been thinking about it and I don't want our child to be raised without it's parents being together." Iruka said as he faced Anko. He then stood and knelt down on one knee and pulled out a small box. "Anko, will you marry me?" Iruka asked, opening the box and showing Anko a single diamond engagement ring.

Anko's eyes widened at what Iruka was doing and then narrowed slightly. "Are you only asking me to marry you because of the baby?"

"No. I was planning to ask you weeks ago, but the invasion ruined that and then afterwards with the repairs and everything it's been hard to find the time." Iruka answered.

Anko looked at him for a moment. She had let Iruka get closer to her than anyone else. When she originally tricked him with a kage bunshin all those months ago, it had started out so simply. However, the longer it went, the more complicated it got. And now, it was so very complicated, but it was also something more. Something, she didn't want to give up. "Yes." She said in a firm voice.

"Ah, what?" Iruka asked confused.

"Yes, I'll marry you; you baka." Anko said with a small grin.

Iruka stared, wide eyed, for a moment, before a grin broke out on his face and he slipped the ring onto Anko's finger. As he stood up, she stood with him; Anko then leaned forward and kissed him softly, but passionately on the lips.

Unbeknownst to most, the stars in the sky were brighter that night.

**Next chapter: WTF?**

**There was the seventh chapter. I hope this one was better than the last one, cause a lot of you complained about the sixth chapter. Please leave a review and not a flame. The next chapter will be out once I get it back from my BETA reader.**


	8. WTF?

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 8: WTF?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**BETA read by: SamJaz**

* * *

Naruto stared up at the sky as he, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Ton-ton walked down the road heading to Konoha. That morning, they had breakfast at the bar that they had meet Tsunade at and Naruto commented that he wasn't so sure if Tsunade was such a good choice to be Godaime. That, of course, pissed Tsunade off and she challenged him to a fight. Naruto declined saying, it would be wrong to beat someone so out of practice, but maybe if she got into shape he'd take her up on it and make her use more than one finger. Tsunade smirked in reply to his grin and said that, he'd better prepare for an ass kicking. All in all, it was a rather normal breakfast for the Leaf shinobi.

"Hey, Baa-chan, I have a couple of questions to ask you." Naruto said as he looked over at Tsunade.

"Stop calling me that, gaki." She replied in a huff. "Now, what are your questions?"

"How, are you able to have such incredible strength?" He asked, remembering how she had wielded Gamabunta's dagger.

"Oh, that? It's just simply enhanced strength with chakra." Tsunade replied to the boy with a shrug.

"Anyway I could learn it?" Naruto asked.

"You could, but the training for it is arduous. You may not succeed." She said, her honey-brown eyes glancing over at Naruto.

"Yeah? Kind of like how I wouldn't master the Rasengan in a week?" Naruto said grinning to himself. "That training sounds like my kind of training."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow at Naruto's declaration and wondered if the boy was a masochist. The poor fool really had no idea what he was asking for.

"Also, can you train me in medical jutsus? Or at least point me in the direction of learning more?" Naruto asked, continuing his questions.

This question had all three of the adults staring at him. "What?" Naruto asked, shifting under their gazes.

"Why, would you want to learn medical jutsus?" Shizune asked him. It was rare for shinobi to want to be med-nins at such a young age and most of the med-nins were kunoichi.

"Simple. Two reasons. The first reason is I'm going to be a better Hokage than all of the Hokages before me. The second reason is if Baa-chan can't heal Lee I'll have to learn everything she knows and build on it. Then one day, I'll heal him myself." Naruto told her.

"Training to be a med-nin won't be easy. This type of training isn't for everyone." Tsunade told him. On the inside she was impressed that he wanted to help his friend.

Jiraiya had to admit he was impressed with the boy's determination. Maybe, just maybe, the gaki could master 1,000 jutsus.

**Konoha**

**Front gates**

**A few days later**

"It feels great to be back." Naruto shouted in happiness as they walked through the gates. It had taken them three days to get back and during that time, Jiraiya taught him some improvement to the Rasengan and was impressed when Naruto formed an Odama Rasengan. Naruto told him it wasn't too much. He had just imagined a bigger _balloon_ and added more charka. Of course right after saying that, he fell on his ass because of the strain it put on him. Tsunade and Shizune had even started to train him in a couple of simple medical jutsus. They were surprised when Naruto seemed to be picking them up so easily. Naruto confessed to them that he had been learning more than the Rasengan the past month and showed them the medical scroll he had brought with him.

Tsunade looked around at the village; a small part of her still couldn't believe that she had returned. Everything looked so different, but also the same. She admitted quietly to herself that it was nice to be home.

"Hey Baa-chan, can you move it? We're burning daylight here. You said you'd look at Sasuke and Lee when we returned." Naruto yelled out, breaking Tsunade from her nostalgic feeling moment. Before Tsunade could yell at him, Jiraiya interrupted her.

"Naruto, she needs to settle in for a moment. How about you go and drop your stuff at your apartment and meet us at the hospital?"

"Alright, Ero-sennin." Naruto replied as he ran off to his apartment.

Tsunade watched Naruto run off with a look of annoyance on her face. She then turned to look at her old teammate and said, "Naruto's so much like them it's scary."

"You have no idea." Jiraiya replied.

"What are the two of you talking about?" Shizune asked confused about their conversation.

"Nothing." They both replied.

They then walked towards the Hokage Tower, with Jiraiya grinning at all the young women.

* * *

Minutes later, Tsunade was opening the door to her former sensei's office, now her office. She had so many memories of this room alone. She remembered playing in the room when she was a child, while her grandfather was Hokage. She'd come here to turn in mission reports, give updates of the hospital, and the times she got reprimand for beating Jiraiya. The moment was interrupted when the door opened and in walked the Third's old teammates.

"I'm glad to see that you have returned, Tsunade-sama." Koharu said.

"Thank you." Tsunade replied as she sat behind the desk. "Looks like I'll be fairly busy with rebuilding the village, improving the quality of our shinobi, and familiarizing myself with our current shinobi." Tsunade said.

"But first, there's something we need you to take care of." Homura said.

"Oh? What is it?" Tsunade asked the aged advisors.

Koharu handed her the scroll that was the treaty between Konoha and Suna; which was also the future marriage between Naruto and Temari. As Tsunade began to read, her expression got angrier and angrier. When she finished she handed the scroll to Jiraiya and turned to face the elders. "What the fuck is this?" She asked them in a seething voice.

"Tsunade-sama, it is clear what it is. It's the peace treaty between Suna and Konoha; involving the marriage of a Konoha shinobi to a Suna kunoichi." Koharu replied calmly.

"The council agreed to this?!" Tsunade shouted. This was insane the times for doing a Blood Joining Alliance should be over, but it was still allowed. She just couldn't believe that the council did this.

"Can you blame us?" Homura asked. He then continued saying, "There was no Hokage. Given the strained feelings between Konoha and Suna, it was decided that it would be best if we made sure the new peace treaty lasts."

Tsunade knew she was in a bind. If she agreed, then a very important part of Naruto's life would no longer be his to control. However, the political and economic fallout of not agreeing, could effectively kill Konoha. She hadn't even been back in the village for a day and already, she had to screw someone's life. The problem was this was the life of the one who convinced her to come back. Kami did she want some sake right then.

Jiraiya stood by quietly reading over the scroll, before he spoke. "Since the deal has been done, we obviously can't do anything to change it. Though I must say, if Naruto is going to marry against his will and be involved in this political marriage; then perhaps, the village should ensure that Suna isn't insulted."

Tsunade looked at her old teammate with a confused expression. '_What is he talking about?_' She asked herself.

"Meaning?" Homura asked aloud.

"I've seen Naruto's place." Jiraiya said in a firm voice. Truthfully, it was a lie. However, he had heard of the district that Naruto lived in and hopefully it would be enough for his plan to work. He then continued, saying, "As an orphan, he has very little. With a wife entering into his life, and the future planning of children, I'm sure it would be looked down upon by Suna should such a high class of kunoichi as Temari suddenly find herself living in Konoha's Makto District."

Tsunade slowly began to mentally grin to herself. Jiraiya was a pervert, but he knew how to twist people's arms politically when he needed to. "That's a good point, Jiraiya. I'm sure the Suna council would just hate to hear that, when I send them the message stating that I have been made aware of the treaty." Tsunade said aloud.

"What do you recommend?" Koharu asked.

"Seeing that this is a peace treaty and everything that goes with it. Naruto and Temari will need a higher pay grade. Also, a house would be a showing of our good faith to Suna. It would show that they can trust us. Hey, you could even hire some genin to fix up a destroyed house." Jiraiya told them.

"That sounds good. Let's do that." Tsunade replied, not bothering to wait for the elder's response.

"Very well, Tsunade-sama." Homura said. The two elders then bowed and left.

Tsunade sighed to herself and began to flip through Sarutobi's notes. After reading his notes on the current rookie genin rooster, she sent a chunin out to find and drag back Nara Shikamaru with him. Ten minutes later, the door opened and in walked the chunin carrying the genin over his shoulder.

"So, you're Nara Shikamaru?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes. Who are you?" Shikamaru asked, even though he had a good idea who this woman was.

"I'm Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. I will publicly be sworn in tomorrow. But before that, I've been reading over the Third's notes and he seemed very impressed by you. So, you have been promoted to chunin." Tsunade replied. She then stood and handed Shikamaru his new chunin vest.

Shikamaru accepted it with a sighing thanks. He really didn't want to be promoted, it was all too troublesome. He slipped on the vest and then left as the Fifth was done talking to him, after telling him that he was to report to her office tomorrow after the ceremony for a mission.

'_That boy really is a Nara._' Tsunade thought to herself, remembering how most of the male Nara's were very lazy. She then wrote up a small order for a few jounins and their genin teams to meet in her office tomorrow. After sending out a chunin to deliver them, she left for the hospital.

**Konoha Hospital**

**Long-term recovery ward**

Sakura walked slowly to Sasuke room, she was bringing fresh flowers to his room as she did everyday. The past month after the invasion had been very strained and odd. Just a few days afterwards, Naruto had left for some unknown mission and both Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei had been injured. After talking with Ino, seeing Lee training to keep training, and thinking about it Sakura decided to try a further her bloodline limit, the Inugumi. So far, she was having no luck with it.

As she arrived at the door to Sasuke's room, she heard voice coming from behind the door. She opened the door to see Naruto and a blond haired woman standing next to Sasuke.

"He'll awaken in a moment." She heard the woman say to Naruto.

Naruto glanced over at her direction. "Oh, hey Sakura," said Naruto.

"Come to my office in a few minutes, Naruto. We need to talk." The blond haired woman said before she left.

Sakura watched the woman leave, wondering who she was; she then turned to face her whisker faced teammate and said, "So, you're back."

"Yep." Naruto replied with his usual simplicity.

"So, where did you go?" She asked.

"I left to go on a mission to bring back the Godaime Hokage." Naruto told her.

"You?" She asked skeptically.

"If you doubt me, you could have asked her yourself."

"Her? The new Hokage is a woman?" Sakura asked. She knew that a kunoichi could become strong, but she never pictured one becoming Hokage.

"Yeah. In fact, she's the woman that just healed Sasuke." Naruto informed his misguided teammate.

"She was the what?" Sakura asked in a shocked voice. '_What the fuck?_' She thought to herself, she never would have guessed that woman was the new Hokage.

"You'll get a chance, to ask her about it tomorrow." Naruto said, interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

"Ask her about what?"

"Ask her if I did go on the mission to bring her back. She told me to tell you that we're to meet tomorrow in her office after the coronation ceremony. Sasuke, however, won't be there as he's been ordered not to leave the bed." Naruto explained to her.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly, about getting to see the new Hokage so soon.

"Well, I better get out of here and see what Baa-chan wants." Naruto said, as he exited the room.

'_Who's Baa-chan?_' Sakura thought a couple of moments later after Naruto was already gone and down the hall.

**Konoha**

**Middle of the road**

"You know, Choji, Asuma-sensei is right. You do need to train. How can you expect to meet a girl if you don't drop a few? If you aren't thin, then a girl won't like you. Girls like guys that are skinny and the same thing goes with guys; which is why I've been dieting." The platinum blond haired kunoichi known as Ino told her fluffy teammate.

Currently, the members of Team 10 were walking down the street after having had a celebration lunch with their sensei to celebrate Shikamaru's promotion.

"You're wrong about that Yamanaka." Came a voice from behind them.

Team 10 turned around to see Naruto walking behind them.

"And what would you know about that, Naruto?" Ino asked in a humph.

"I know that I don't like overly skinny girls. I girl with some weight to her is nice. Like that girl down at the general store of the east side of the village. Sure, she's not skinny, but she's also not cubby. She looks real good." Naruto replied.

"Tch. Whatever." Ino shot back before walking away in a huff.

Naruto then turned to face is old academy friends, "Having female troubles?" He asked them.

Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's so troublesome."

Naruto shook his head in amusement and Shikamaru's response. He then turned to face Choji, who seemed to be down after what Ino had said. "Choji, you shouldn't let what Ino said get to you. If a girl likes you 'cause you're skinny, then that girl is obviously shallow and that's not the kind of girl you want around. Also, if you want to get better at training, you just need to ask us. We're your friends we'll be happy to help you." Naruto told him.

"Yeah, the loudmouth blond is right." Shikamaru added. Causing Naruto to frown in his direction.

"Thanks guys." Choji said, cheering up at his friend's words.

After a pleasant good-bye, Naruto headed on to the tower. Wondering what Tsunade could want with him.

* * *

A few minutes later, Naruto stepped into Tsunade's office. It was rather barren, but then again she had just come back to the village. It hadn't even been announced that she was the Hokage yet. "So, what did you want to see me about, Baa-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"Naruto, please sit." Tsunade said, indicating to the chair in front of her.

Naruto quietly sat in the chair, as she asked him to. He knew something was up, as she didn't reply to his calling of her old the way she normally had the last couple of days.

After letting out a sigh, Tsunade began to speak. "It seems that while you and Jiraiya were out looking for me to become the next Hokage, a treaty was able to be reached between Konoha and Suna. Part of the new treaty is a political marriage between two of the village's shinobi. I'll be sending a response to Suna soon and then they will be sending a girl here to marry one of the shinobi in our village." She started.

"So, do you want me to look after her?" Naruto asked, not seeing what any of this had to do with him.

"No. You're the one that has been picked to marry her." Tsunade replied to Naruto is deadly seriousness.

Silence filled the room. It was quite, deadly quite like the grave. Naruto blinked once, then twice. Tsunade was stating to wonder if Naruto had mentally blacked out. She was quickly proven wrong, unfortunately.

* * *

The citizens of Konoha were peacefully going about their lives; trying to get back on their feet after the invasion. However, that peace was interrupted by a shout that was heard all around the village and shook the leaf to its core.

"**WHAT THE FUCK?!!**"

No one knew where the sound came from or what caused it, but the citizens felt a chill run down their spines.

* * *

"What the fuck do you mean!? I'm the one that's been picked to marry!? I can't get married! Who the hell is the girl!?" Naruto shouted out. He then stood and said, "You know what? Screw this. I refuse to have any part in this." Naruto turned and started to make his way towards the door to leave.

Just as he was about to open the door, Tsunade shouted, "If you refuse Konoha will be going to war. We can't afford a war right now, Naruto."

This caused Naruto to pause. He hadn't thought that it would come to that. He let out a few deep sighs and said, "I need time to think. I'll be back in at least an hour, baa-chan." He then opened the door and left, without bothering to wait for confirmation or permission to leave.

Tsunade looked at the spot were Naruto had been and felt her heart break at what she had to do.

* * *

Naruto stared out at the village from atop the Fourth's head. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair. For too long, Naruto didn't have control over certain parts of his life. And now, just when he was starting to get control, this was put in front of him.

"I take it you've heard." A voice behind him spoke.

Naruto looked behind him to see Jiraiya. The old hermit walked over next to him and sat down. For a few minutes neither one said a word, until Naruto broke the silence. "It's just not fair, Ero-sennin."

"Yeah, well, life isn't fair. This is the kind of stuff you sign up for when you become a shinobi; a lot of shit in your life." Jiraiya replied.

"I didn't sign up for this kind of shit." Naruto said a he turned his head to look at Jiraiya.

"When you put that hitai, you essentially give up a part of yourself for the village. That part, which you give up, is your own personal happiness. Now sure, plenty of shinobi are still able to be happy. However, times come when a shinobi must sacrifice their own personal happiness for the village. You keep saying you want to be Hokage; well this is it. Having to make shitty decisions, that wreck people's lives, are a big part of it. Why do you think I turned it down?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto chose to keep his mouth shut and just listen to what the toad sennin had to say.

"Do you think that Tsunade wants to do this to you? She doesn't want to, but she has to. As Hokage she has to look out for the village first." Jiraiya finished.

Naruto then stood and began to walk away. He looked over his shoulder at Jiraiya and said, "Thanks for the chat, Ero-sennin."

* * *

Nearly an hour later, Naruto walked into Tsunade's office carrying three scrolls in his hands. He walked forward and stood before Tsunade. For a moment he didn't speak, then he broke his silence. "This is really going screw with my life. This treaty is more than likely, going to screw with the girl's life too. So, I've made some demands for the two of us." Naruto said handing Tsunade a scroll before continuing, "This scroll is a list of the demands." He then held up the remaining two. "These two scrolls are to go with yours to Suna. One is for the Suna council the other is for the bride."

Tsunade read the demands that Naruto had. They where just a few, but they were demanding. "You can't be serious." She said when she finished and looked back up at Naruto.

She watched as Naruto took out a kunai and held it up the side of his forehead protector. Her eyes widened slightly at what Naruto was signifying; he was willing to become a missing-nin for this. "I'm deadly serious, Godaime Hokage-_sama_. I've been screwed over for most of my life and I'll be damned if someone has to suffer like with me, without me looking out for their best interests. I know you can do everything on that list and don't hand me that bull shit that you can't do it. You're Hokage now, you can. I'll even make it easy for you. Just find me the land and I'll buy whatever is on top of it." Naruto told her.

Tsunade took out a fine detailed map of Konoha and showed Naruto where they were going to put him and the Suna girl. Naruto took a pen and made a slightly larger box around it. "Are you sure?" She asked the boy.

"Yes. I'll deal with the owners." He replied.

"Well, I was going to assign the genin to build the house. I guess that won't be needed." Tsunade said rolling the map back up.

"Oh, you can still hire them. In fact, I insist upon it. Just send them there tomorrow and I'll have assignments for them." Naruto replied.

Tsunade nodded her head and said, "Alright, Naruto-kun. You know that with this marriage, you won't be able to learn medical jutsu."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Naruto replied.

Naruto then turned around and began to leave. Just before opening the door, he looked back at Tsunade and asked, "Who was the girl Suna picked?"

"They chose the former Kazekage's daughter, Temari." Tsunade replied, pulling out a scroll to write her reply to Suna.

'_Temari? Temari… Where have I heard that name before?_' Naruto thought to himself, walking out the door, before realization struck him. '_Oh, yeah, she's Gaara's sister. …I'm a dead man._' He thought to himself with slight horror. Gaara's sister was strong, ruthless, and beautiful, in Naruto's opinion. However, he never dreamed that he'd be picked to marry a girl like her.

* * *

Over the next several hours Naruto met with different homeowners and realtors and bought houses from them. By the end of it all, he had bought 37 homes. Most of them were destroyed. The interesting thing about the houses was that they happened to be the neighborhood next to Naruto's apartment complex and shops.

As the sun began to set, Naruto headed over to Ichiraku to get several bowls of ramen to eat. When he arrived at the stand, he saw that Teuchi and Ayame were there as always and the only customers they had were Iruka and Anko. "Hey Iruka-sensei." Naruto said greeting his old academy teacher.

Iruka turned to see who had called him. Seeing that it was Naruto he replied, "Naruto how have you been?"

"I've been doing alright. So, what are you doing here Anko-san? I thought you liked dango?" Naruto asked his other sensei.

"I do like dango better, but this is were Iru-kun wanted to eat." She answered.

"Oh, are you dating?" Naruto asked them with a grin.

"Actually, we're getting married." Anko told him.

"You're getting married too, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto gasped out in shock.

"Yeah, I am- Hey what do you mean, '_too_' Naruto?" Iruka asked his former student, with a curious look on his face.

Naruto mentally banged his head at his mistake and said, "As you may know, Konoha has finished having its peace talks with Suna. Part of the new peace treaty, involves an alliance marriage and I'm the groom."

Everyone at the ramen stand just stared at Naruto, after what he just told them.

"Are you serious?" Anko asked, she knew that the kid had stopped pulling his great pranks, but this couldn't be real.

"Yep. The Fifth sent a response letter several hours ago. It will be announced after the ceremony tomorrow, so don't tell anyone." Naruto answered.

"What the fuck?" Iruka said as he turned around in his seat, intent on giving the new Hokage a peace of his mind. Everyone's eyes widened at Iruka's outburst. Never before, had the academy teacher said such a thing. Anko was really starting to rub off on him.

"Iruka-sensei, sit down. I've already accepted it. There's nothing more that can be done." Naruto said, stopping the man.

"But Naruto, to put you through this…" He said, looking back at his unofficial little brother.

"I know, I know. But, it's for the good of the village. I want to be Hokage one day, remember? I'll have to make choices like this someday." Naruto said.

With a sigh, Iruka sat back down. He knew his former student was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Iruka… Try to understand." Naruto said, looking at him.

He nodded his head and said, "Alright, for you I will Naruto. I just hope this turns out well for you. The last thing I want for you is a loveless marriage."

Naruto nodded his head and the three shinobi then ate their meals in silence.

* * *

It had been a long couple of weeks for Temari. She had sent a letter to Karui, telling her that she was getting married. She then spent the rest of her time studying up on the different clans of Konoha and its culture. Her nerves had be grated down and she had snapped at several people; even sending a couple to the hospital.

Currently, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara were in the middle of a peaceful dinner when their sensei came in with two scrolls. "The Hokage has sent a response. The new Hokage for Konoha will be Tsunade and she has been made aware of the treaty and marriage. Along with her response, there were two scrolls from the leaf-nin that will be your husband. One scroll was for the council and the other is for you." Baki said to three of them, but more to Temari.

Temari's eyes widened at the mention of the new Hokage's name. Baki then tossed a scroll at her. As she caught it, her sensei continued.

"That scroll is the letter. Since the Hokage has sent a response, the council has decided to inform you of who you will be marrying. You will be marrying Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha." Baki replied.

Temari's eyes widened considerably at this. She was going to marry the genin that had all but killed her youngest brother and the guy she told Karui that she could have, after she told her Kumo friend that she was in an arranged marriage. That's going to be an awkward conversation.

The silence was broken by Gaara, who simply said, "Good choice."

"Good? What do you mean '_good_', Gaara? That's the guy that beat you and almost killed you." Kankuro said.

"Yes, Naruto could have killed me, but he didn't. I trust sister's skills, but I feel better knowing that she's marrying someone strong. Uzumaki is also the only one I trust, besides the two of you." Gaara reasoned to his older brother.

Kankuro and Temari both raised an eyebrow at what Gaara had said, before turning back to their sensei.

"Besides," Gaara said continuing, "The Uchiha's a douchebag, The Hyuuga's are even worse, and don't get me started on the Aburame's and there bugs."

Temari and Kankuro both sweat dropped at what Gaara had said. How was he able to see something like that in such a monotone voice?

"Along with that letter, Uzumaki-san sent a list of demands to the Suna council." Baki told the Suna siblings, indicating to the second scroll in his hand.

"What? Is he wanting me to be the prefect little housewife?" Temari demanded, as her sensei unrolled the scroll and quickly read it.

"Actually, no. These demands are for your benefit." Baki told her. "He asked that you stay instated as a Suna kunoichi, so that you can still be allowed to be in Suna and maybe even do the occasional mission for Suna. He also, writes that if you want to visit you family, you should be able to." Baki explained.

Temari was surprised by this, she didn't expect this. She thought that her future husband would demand that she be an obedient trophy wife. She'd rather die a thousand ways than do something that degrading.

"Also, it seems that with your marriage a new clan will be formed in Konoha, the Uzumaki clan, of which you will be co-clan head." Baki finished.

"What do you mean, '_co-clan head_', there's always been only one clan head in the Konoha clans." Temari said, remembering what she had read.

"It seems that Uzumaki-san, wishes to change things." Baki told her.

Temari went back to her meal, as her brothers said good-bye to their sensei. After eating, she went upstairs and began to pack her precious few belongings. As she packed and sealed, Temari took notice of the scroll and decided to read it. She untied the string and read.

_To my Suna bride,_

_As I write this, I don't know who you are. I image I will find out in due time, but I wanted to write this to you while it was still fresh in my mind. I'm sorry for what has been done to us. I know neither of us asked for this, but we both love our villages enough to sacrifice our own personal happiness. Though, I do hope, that we kind find happiness with each other together. I've made a few demands to the councils in both villages to make our marriage better. After all, if we're going to do this, our villages should be willing to give us something. One of those things, is becoming a new clan in Konoha. When you arrive, we can discuss clan colors, symbols, style, and more. Also, as this will be a marriage between Suna and Konoha, I feel that the customs of both villages should be upheld by both of us. I know his will be difficult, but I'm willing to work at it. I suppose I should tell you a little about myself. Well, my name's Uzumaki Naruto. I'm a genin form Konoha. I graduate last of my class and I'm currently on Team 7. I also, sometimes, do questionable work, but we can discuss that and more later. I hope I can make you happy._

_From your Konoha groom, Uzumaki Naruto_

Temari stared at the letter for a few more minutes, wondering what to make of it. Perhaps, it wouldn't be so bad to be married.

* * *

After finishing his meal, Naruto went and bought out a few lumber and hardware stores. Since he was unable to sleep, He started to work on building the wall around what was to become the Uzumaki clan home. Nearly three hours and a thousand clones later, the eight foot high wall was finished and enclosed around in what was once 37 standing houses. Naruto then began to clear the area in the middle of rubble and ripped up the foundation of the home. By the time Naruto and his army of clones had cleared enough space, brought everything to the landfill and put up a large screen to block people's view, it was midnight. He walked back to his apartment a tired genin and climbed into bed. After dispelling his clones, he quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Sakura, along with Kakashi, found herself standing in the new Hokage's office along with Team 10, Team 8, the remaining members of Team Gai, and another team she hadn't known about until she arrived in the office. It was Kiba's and Shikmaru's cousins Shippo Inuzuka and Yoshi Nara. They were both kunoichi and their sensei was a tall, young, dark skinned woman by the name of Kathy. All of the teams and their sensei stood before the Godaime Hokage.

"I'm glad you could all make it." Tsunade said to gathered shinobi before her. Continuing she said, "As you may or may not be aware, we have recently finished our peace talks with Suna and a new treaty has been reached. Part of that new treaty is the marriage between two of our shinobi. The bride will be from Suna and the groom is from Konoha. The bride will be arriving at the end of the week. During that time, the groom is preparing himself for her arrival."

"So, what are we here for?" Shikamaru asked. This was all so troublesome.

"You genin, along with your jounin senseis, are to help the groom prepare. You're to meet him where he's currently building the house for the two of them. You'll be working under Uzumaki Naruto." Tsunade answered.

"Why would we be working under that Baka?" Kiba asked with a scoff. He saw no point to working for someone the same rank as him.

Tsunade snatched a paperweight off her desk and threw it at Kiba's head. "Because, Naruto is the groom for this marriage." Tsunade yelled at the boy.

Everyone stared at the Hokage with wide eyes. Naruto? Getting married? What the fuck?

"You can't be serious, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said.

"I'm completely serious. If it wasn't for this marriage, we would be going to war." Tsunade told him. Then, looking at everyone she gave them directions to where Naruto would be and dismissed them.

* * *

As they walked, everyone talked about Naruto being involved in a political marriage.

"Can you believe that Naruto is getting married?" Ino asked Sakura.

"It seems so unreal." She replied.

"I just feel sorry for him; having to be married to such a troublesome woman." Shikamaru drawled.

"Shikamaru, you think all women are 'Troublesome'. If you keep saying that, you'll find yourself with out a woman when you get older." Yoshi told her cousin.

Shikamaru replied by looking up at the clouds; while Choji continued to eat his chips, he wondered what kind of food would be at the wedding.

'_I wonder why Naruto-kanrinin hasn't said anything about this?_' Kathy thought to herself as everyone walked down the street.

In the midst of everyone, Hinata's heart was silently breaking. For now she would never have a chance with Naruto.

* * *

Several minutes later they found themselves walking up to a massive stone wall and a wooden gate. If front of the gate stood, three Narutos. "About time you showed up." Naruto shouted out to them.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Nope. We're all clones. The real Naruto's inside." The clone replied. He then stood aside to let them pass.

Once they were on the other side of the stone wall, everyone stared in shock. There were Narutos everywhere. What looked like, fifty of them were sitting on the grass reading books. Others were destroying houses and even more were loading up debris and rubble into flatbed carts.

"NARUTO, WHAT THE FUCKING DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Sakura yelled at him; seeing her teammate destroy someone's house.

As one the clones looked at her and replied. "I think I'm doing what I please to my property."

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Ten-ten.

A clone then walked up to them and said, "I mean, I own everything in between these gates and a little more. I need to get rid of these houses by tomorrow. Your job will be to haul the debris and rubble in the carts to the landfill, dump it and then return to do it again. Understand?"

Seeing them nod, the clone showed them to eleven different carts filled with rubble. "Dump them and come back."

Before anyone could say anything or ask a question, a shout was heard, "**ODAMA RASENGAN**" A flash of light was seen, and everyone was forced to cover their eyes, and were once stood a house; now, stood ruined ground. They watched as Naruto emerged from the rubble and began to run at another house. Naruto made that large sword of his appear in his hands and proceeded to cut his way into the house. With a savage scream the sounds of destruction greeted their ears, as Naruto gutted the house.

'_Was that the Rasengan?_' Kakashi thought to himself.

"As you can see, I'm taking the news of my marriage very well." The clone said in an obvious lie.

'_If this is well, I'd hate to see unwell._' Was the unified thought of several of the shinobi. Throughout the day they brought cart load after cart load of debris to the landfill. Surprisingly, after Naruto's clones finished tearing down the last of the houses and ripped up the foundations, they also joined in on taking debris to the land fill. This made a two day job into a one day job. For which, everyone was thankful.

* * *

With the rubble gone and the land leveled, Naruto dismissed everyone and went to buy some more supplies. Like lumber, concrete, a few plants, glass, shingles, and a few other things. After giving the clones instructions, Naruto returned to his apartment. When he arrived, Naruto noticed that he had a message from Ibiki. Naruto sighed when he finished reading it and got ready for bed. He then, dispelled his clones that had been studying Suna's history, culture, way of lie, and odd facts. His brain began to process and sort the information, for later use with Temari. Though he did have one thought when absorbing the information, '_Why is Suna nicknamed the '_Hidden Red Light Village_'?_'

* * *

Tsunade yawned loudly. It was a turning into a very long day for her. All day she had been meeting the different groups under her command. It was extremely boring. Luckily, she would soon be meeting the last group, The ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit. A knock was heard at her door, breaking her from her mental reprieve.

"Enter." She called out.

The door opened and in walked what could be argued the most intimidating shinobi of Konoha, besides the sennin. First there was Morino Ibiki, the captain of the unit. He was just flat out scary. Next was Mitarashi Anko, the first lieutenant. She was once the former apprentice of Orochimaru himself. Following her was Yamanaka Inoichi, the second lieutenant. He was the current head of the Yamanaka clan and it was rumored that he didn't have to see you to take over your body. Tsunade was surprised when a fourth figure walked in. This person looked male, but he was too short to tell. Plus, he was wearing a large jacket with a large hood pulled over his head. There was also the matter of the black mask on his face with an orange slash.

"Who are you? Remove that mask." Tsunade demanded.

Instead of doing as she ordered, the person looked at Ibiki and asked, "Sir?"

"Do as she ordered. It was bound to come out sooner or later, since she's the Hokage." Ibiki told him.

The person nodded his head and reached up to remove his mask. When his head arose, Tsunade was surprised to see Naruto looking back at her.

"N-Naruto?" She gasped out in shock.

"Yeah, it's me." Naruto said with a grin.

"How can you be in the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Unit?" Tsunade asked.

"Because he's apprenticing under me." Ibiki replied.

"When did this happen? How did this happen? Why did this happen?" Tsunade asked in rapid firing mode.

Over the next 30 minutes Ibiki, Anko, Inoichi, and Naruto explained everything to her. When the explanation was over, she looked at Naruto and asked, "What rank do you hold in the unit?"

"I'm sergeant major." Naruto replied.

Tsunade nodded her head at this and told them to inform her of the on goings of the unit. After a three hour long discussion on everything going on, covering from current prisoners to new tactics, Tsunade dismissed them.

* * *

As the four shinobi walked back to ANBU HQ Ibiki said, "Doctor, I want to see you in my office."

Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgement. When they arrived back, He and Ibiki went straight to the captain's office.

"Take a seat, Naruto." Ibiki said as he sat down behind his own desk.

Naruto sat in the single chair available and took of his mask, as he had been called Naruto and not Doctor.

"I know about the marriage, as I sure most of the village knows by now. What I want to know is how do you feel?" Ibiki asked his subordinate.

Naruto thought for a moment. No one had bothered to ask him how he felt, everyone else had just made their own decisions about the situation. "I don't know." Naruto replied. He then continued, "Part of me thinks she's great looking from what I remembering seeing of her. Another, wants to run and tell the village to screw it's self. A small part wants to get revenge on her. But, for the most part, I want to understand her and make this work."

"I know this will sound odd, coming from me, but try to not be suspicious of her. Do you remember, when I told you that you might be living a difficult life if you choose this? That is because, more often then not, we become suspicious of everyone. Especially, those closest to us." Ibiki explained.

Naruto nodded his head in understanding, seeing Ibiki's point. He then left and went to what was to be his house. Once he arrived, Naruto continued his work of painting, placing brick, and hammering.

* * *

Over the next several days, Naruto spent every waking minute working on the house and yard. Tsunade spoke to Lee and Gai about the chances of the boy's survival of the surgery. Sasuke was released from the hospital and didn't seem to care that his teammate was getting married. Hinata came to realize that the Suna girl wasn't trying to steal Naruto, but was forced into this, just as Naruto was. Naruto informed the residents of Maelstrom Apartments, about the marriage. He also had a few clones reading over the book Renka had given him.

All in all, the entire village was abuzz with activity and talking about the coming bride.**

* * *

**

Next Chapter: Here Comes the Bride

**That's it for chapter 8. Please leave a review, not a flame. I tried to make it longer, but it didn't turn out very well. The next chapter will be much longer. Anyway, this will most likely be it for updates until the new year. I've got to get a job, so updates will be a bit slower now. Also, to everyone that has been complaining about how I write my story, I'm not writing this for your approval. If you think you can do a better job at writing my story than I can, then do so.**


	9. Here Comes the Bride

**What If? Naruto**

**Chapter 9: Here Comes the Bride**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

(**A/N: Stay tuned after the chapter for an important message.**)

**

* * *

Kumogakure**

Karui stared at the letter in her hands. She had just received a letter from Temari explaining that she now knew who her husband was going to be. Through some sick twist of fate, Naruto had been picked. Karui knew she couldn't be angry at Temari, because she hadn't picked him herself. She was angry at herself for the letter that she had sent to Naruto, after Temari's last letter. If anything she was angry at the Suna and Konoha councils for ruining her chances at having a relationship with Naruto. Unfortunately, for her they were not available for her to kill at the moment.

"Hey sis, what's that?" A voice asked behind her.

Fortunately, Omoi was available for her to take out some much needed stress relief on.

Omoi stiffened as Karui whirled around and a flash of steel followed her. His eyes widened in shock as the stem of his sucker was cut off a hair's width from his lips. The teenaged genin raised his eyes in time to see Karui's right foot smash into his left cheek. The force of the kick not only sent his through the window, but also forced his mouth open and caused the sucker to fly out. On his way down Omoi thought to himself, '_That was the newest flavor, Baked Potato._'

"Omoi, we're training now!" Karui screamed as she jumped out after him.

'_CRAP!_' Omoi screamed in his mind as he landed. He then did the smartest thing he could think of and ran for his life.

**Konohagakure**

**3 days later**

It was a cold night as Naruto looked up at the building that he and nearly a thousand clones had spent a week building. He had put his heart and soul into building it and landscaping the grounds. Giving one last look at the structure, Naruto turned and headed back to what would be his last night at Maelstrom Apartments. Tomorrow, Temari would be arriving. As he walked down the cobble stone path to the stone gate, Naruto looked up at the sky and gazed at the twinkling stars. '_Please let this work._' He silently prayed to whatever deity that was listening.

When he arrived back at his apartment, Naruto checked on the gifts for Temari and her brothers. It was custom in Suna to give a wedding proposal give to the bride's parents. Since both of her parents were dead, Naruto thought it would be best to give them to Temari and her brothers. He then checked the clothes that he was going to wear tomorrow; seeing that the outfit was ready, Naruto turned in for an early sleep.

It would be an interesting day in his life, tomorrow. Especially, when he brought up the strange letter he had received the other day to Temari.

* * *

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on her desk. She gently held a bottle of Manotsuru in her hand as she looked out the office window at the dark landscape. Tsunade took one last sip of sake, before throwing the empty bottle out. It wouldn't do well for her to be drunk tomorrow, when the convoy from Suna arrived. If she was, Suna might call off the wedding feeling that they had been insulted. She knew it wasn't Naruto's dream to get married, but he'd do what was necessary for the village. She had learned that when she gave him tips on her chakra strength, which he would be alone in learning.

Tsunade stood up and headed out of her office to catch what sleep she could. Tomorrow was not going to be a good to for her.

* * *

Gaara sat on roof of the inn that he, his siblings, their sensei, and two Suna jounin escorts were staying. The moon in the sky was full on this cold night. Ever since his fight with Naruto, the voice of whatever the hell was inside of him had grown distant. However, it was always strongest on the night of the full moon. While ignoring the voice, Gaara thought on what Naruto had said. It didn't seem like much at the time, but it stuck with him. He had tried to find some information on it at Suna's library. Unfortunately, the head librarian had passed out when she saw him coming towards her. Either that or she wasn't able to breathe very well with the tight shirt she had on.

Gaara turned his gaze down to the small town. It didn't matter; he'd get his answers from Naruto; one way or another.

* * *

Ibiki sat in his office going over the last reports of the day. A lot had changed in the last few months in the Torture and Interrogation Unit. I genin had joined their ranks as his apprentice, Anko had found a steady boyfriend and was rumored to be engaged to him, his younger brother had been found safe and alive, the Third Hokage had been killed, and his apprentice has involved in a political marriage. To top it all off, Naruto was improving by leaps and bounds. Most of his training had been on animals, written tests, and human dissection. Poor kid had to take a couple of days off training after that, but he now knew his anatomy. Soon, Naruto would be training on real people. If he kept going the way he was, people would end up fearing him more than they did a certain fox from 13 years ago. That was going to be a fun day, indeed.

* * *

The vultures were calling for her death in the form of overly happy morning song birds. Begrudgingly, Temari pulled the cover off of her face and stared out the window at the '_oh so_ _cute_' song birds that had awakened her from her peaceful respite and thrust her back into this chaos. As she stood and gathered her toiletries from her morning rituals, Temari prayed to whom ever was listening that Karui didn't kill her when her friend read who her groom was suppose to be. Especially, after Temari had told Karui could have Naruto; in her previous letter. If Temari got lucky, she could turn her friend's anger on to the Suna council. Slowly, she began to laugh until it turned into a full blow evil sounding laugh.

Unbeknownst to her, Temari's brothers, Kankuro and Gaara, were standing outside the door of the Inn's single shower room that Temari was in, waiting for their own turn. Kankuro looked at the door and then turned his head to look at his younger brother. He switched back and forth between the two for a couple of moments before thinking to himself and keeping it to himself, '_Are we sure Shukaku is really sealed in Gaara?_'

* * *

Naruto groggily awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring. He turned the annoying object off and looked at the time as he sat up. Seeing that it was still early and the convoy from Suna wouldn't arrive until just before lunch, Naruto decided to get some quick training in.

He got up and threw on some simple orange pants and a black t-shirt. After a few minutes of running, Naruto arrived at his training ground in the forest. He was here as he would need a test subject. He bit his left thumb and preformed a summoning jutsu.

"Hi Naruto-san." Coco said, seeing that Naruto had summoned her.

"Morning Coco. I've got a job for you, I need you to catch me a wood mouse and I need it to be alive with no injuries. Can you do it?" Naruto asked her.

Coco thought it was an odd request, but nodded her head. She then took off looking like a white blur.

Naruto didn't have to wait long, a few seconds later Coco dumped a wood mouse into his hands. "Thanks, Coco. Go ahead and dispel yourself, I don't want this little guy getting scared." Naruto replied.

With Coco gone, Naruto sat on the forest floor and held the mouse in his hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated a small amount of chakra to his eyes. When he opened them, his eyes looked the same, but he was seeing things completely different. He had the kouingan activated and was going to try to learn how to use it. He was able to see almost through the mouse in his hands. It was as though mouse had its skin taken off and replaced by a plastic-like-wrap. Black vein like things covered the mouse's body. He had learned that these things were called nerves and with the kouingan he could touch them. Depending on how they were touched, it would bring about different reactions from the receiver of the touch.

Naruto summoned chakra into his left thumb and rubbed the back of the mouse's back. That was when Naruto's peaceful morning ended, as the mouse had started screaming. Naruto's eyes widened in horror; at what was happening. He gently tossed the mouse from his hands. As the mouse was in mid-air, its tiny heart exploded from pumping to fast. Its heart was pumping faster than it should have, causing it to simply burst. The small creature landed on the ground dead.

'_Okay, new rule. This is to never be used on a human until I've done a lot of training with it._' Naruto thought to himself.

With the mouse dead, Naruto deactivated the Kouingan and went back to his apartment. He took a quick shower and had a light breakfast. As he was lounging about, a knock was heard at the door. Naruto opened the door to see Hinata standing in front of him.

"N-Naruto-kun, I need your help. It's an emergency." Hinata said breathlessly.

"What wrong, Hinata?" He asked her.

"It's the Hyuuga elders." She gasped out. She then continued saying, "They've decided to place the cage bird seal back on Neji-nii-san."

"Get back to your house and I'll meet you over there. I need to make a quick stop first." Naruto told her.

Not sure what Naruto was planning, Hinata ran back to the Hyuuga Clan Compound. When she arrived, Hinata snuck into the clan meeting room where the elders were arguing with some of the more promenade members.

"You can't do this." A tall female branch member yelled at the elders.

"Heklo-san, you are speaking to the elders; do remember that." A withered old man at the elder's table replied. The man then continued saying, "As for what we can do, if it involves the prestige of the clan we may do as we please." He then activated Heklo's seal which sent her to the ground screaming in agonizing pain. The pain would have continued, if it wasn't for the elder's concentration being broking at that moment by an object that was thrown at his head. The object burst as it hit him and splashed him with water. One of the great elder's of the Hyuuga clan had just been hit with a water balloon.

"Who threw that?" The wet elder yelled.

"I did." Came the reply from the entrance of the room. Everyone turned to see Naruto standing at the door.

"You?" An elder screamed. Then shouted, "Guards, remove him."

As two guards advanced upon him, Naruto stood waiting for them to get closer. Once they were to close to distance themselves, without getting hurt, Naruto blinked Kubikiri into his hand and held it at neck of one of the guards. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Naruto told the guards. The two of them decided that it would be best if they wisely backed off.

With the guards out of the way, Naruto spoke saying, "Sorry for arriving late to this little meeting you're having, but I had to pick up a few thing. First was that water balloon." He indicated to the wet elder. "Next was the guest of honor." Naruto had walked forward towards the center of the room with a bound and gagged Neji. "And finally, this." Naruto blinked a large stone next to him.

Naruto cast his eyes over the Hyuuga elders and said, "I understand that you would like to reseal him. Is this correct?"

The elders looked down at the bane of Konoha and began to nod their heads.

"Very well, I only ask one thing." Naruto said, before asking, "Who will do the sealing?"

"I will," replied the soaked elder.

"And your name is?" Naruto asked the old man

"Rotojo Hyuuga."

Naruto knelt in front of the stone and focused chakra into his right index finger. He then, began to carve into the stone. After a moment, Naruto looked back to the elder and asked, "Your date of birth?

"What does my date of birth have to do with this?" Rotojo demanded.

"I'm making your tombstone. For when you die, for trying to seal Neji." Naruto replied.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at what Naruto had just said. "You dare to threaten to kill me?" Rotojo yelled.

"No, of course not. You're going to commit suicide, when you try to seal Neji." Naruto explained.

"And how, would that make me commit suicide?" Rotojo asked.

"Because, you'll be over loaded by the backlash from the unsuccessful sealing and it will kill you." Naruto told him. The blond haired boy looked at the shocked expressions on the faces of the elders and said, "What? You didn't think that I wouldn't have prepared for this? Go ahead, do your worst you can to him." Naruto the untied Neji and walked over to the side and stood next to Hiashi.

Neji stood up and looked at the elders, waiting to see what they were going to do. Rotojo had sat back down and now the elders were talking in hushed whispers. "I wonder what she would say." Came the voice of Naruto from the side. Neji turned to see that Naruto had a photo in his hand.

"What would you wife say, Hiashi-san?" Naruto asked the man. "You've pushed one daughter away because she looks too much like her mother, trained the other one into the ground because she is the reason your wife died, avoided your nephew due to feeling responsible for your brother's death, and have let the elders take control of you precious clan." Naruto said to him; all the while not looking at him.

"Remember, just before the Chunin Exam finals, I said that if I won my match against Neji that I would make a request of you?" Naruto asked the man.

Hiashi gave the slightest of nods, acknowledging the boy's question.

"My request is this, take control of you clan once more and do what is right or you may find yourself absent a few branch members. I freed Neji and I can free the rest." Naruto said.

Naruto then turned and walked away, but not before hearing Hiashi say, "Neji go." Naruto inwardly smiled to himself. Maybe, just maybe, things were starting to change for the Hyuuga clan. Naruto rushed to his apartment and took a quick shower and got dressed for Temari's arrival.

* * *

Tsunade was pacing back and forth at the main gate of the village. '_Where is he? Where the hell is he?_' She mentally asked herself. Everyone that needed to be here was here; even Kakashi was on time, much to everyone's shock. Everyone was there; everyone but Naruto that is and he was the one that needed to be there at the moment.

"Don't worry Hokage-sama. I'm sure Naruto will be here." Sakura said out loud; while thinking to herself, '_At least I hope he will be._'

"You mean me?" came a voice from behind them. The members of Team 7, along with Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Tsunade, Shizune and Ton-ton all turned around to see Naruto walking towards them.

He was no longer wearing the simple orange pants and black t-shirt that he had bee wearing earlier. Naruto was now wearing black shinobi sandals, black pants, a metal chain belt with a cut out of the leaf insignia as a buckle, and a dark chainmail long-sleeve shirt. Over the chainmail Naruto had on a slightly dark orange trench coat jacket. On the right arm of the jacket, he had Zabuza's old forehead protector, with a new black cloth, tied around his bicep. On the left sleeve of the jacket, the kanji for '_kitsune_' was stitched in. Strapped around Naruto waist was a large scroll. He also, had four smaller scrolls attached to his belt; two on each side. The hood on the jacket was up and, with the jacket being open; the necklace that Naruto had won off of Tsunade was visible.

"Where have you been?" Tsunade asked him.

"I was getting ready." Naruto replied with a shrug.

He walked forward and stood at Tsunade's left; as Shizune was standing on the woman's right, holding Ton-ton. Behind them stood Team 7, Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma.

"Here they come." Naruto said as he looked down the road and saw 6 people approaching. In front was, who Naruto assumed, was the jounin sensei to the Suna Siblings. Behind him were the siblings themselves. Bringing up the rear were two jounin escorts.

As everyone watched them come closer, Naruto started to get a little nervous in his stomach. Never once, has he ever thought that he wouldn't be Hokage, but he always thought that he would be alone when he got there.

As the six Suna shinobi entered into the village, Tsunade walked forward and said, "I am Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure. I welcome you to our village."

The sand siblings were surprised to see that the new Hokage was so young looking for a woman that was rumored to be in her 50s'. At least two of them were, Gaara didn't seem to care.

Naruto walked forward to Temari and said, while bowing, "I welcome you to my home and offer you safety."

Temari was impressed; she hadn't expected such a formal Suna greeting, which was normally used for visiting leaders. She returned the bow and said, "I am thankful and honored for your hospitality."

Naruto smiled at Temari, he then summoned two kage bunshins and blinked a wooden box into his hands and into his clone's hands. Making it a total of three boxes; each one of them being a different size. The one Naruto was holding was the largest. The clone on his right was holding a much smaller box in height. Width wise is was the widest. The clone on Naruto's left was holding a box only slightly smaller than the one Naruto was holding.

* * *

"What's with the boxes?" Whispered Sakura to Sasuke as they watched the proceedings with interest.

"In Suna, it is custom to present the bride's family with gifts, from the groom's family." Kurenai answered from behind them. Everyone looked on with interest to see what Naruto had picked as gifts.

* * *

Temari looked at the box and then at Naruto. "Thank you." She said as she opened the box. Inside the box she found a medium size scroll about the size of her arm. Temari looked to see that the title '_Weapons_' was written on the side. Okay, so maybe he wasn't expecting her to be some fragile housewife. She took the scroll out of the box and inspected it, before looking back at Naruto.

Naruto stepped back and blinked a table in between them. "Would you like to see them?" Naruto asked her.

Temari nodded her head as she placed the scroll on the table and unrolled it. She saw that there were seven large seals and a few smaller seals, with markings in the center of each to indicate that something was sealed in each of them. Temari summoned chakra into her hand and ran her hand over the seven large seals.

When the smoke cleared from the unsealing, Temari saw that it was seven battle fans like her own iron battle fan. She picked up the right most fan and realized that it was much heavier than her fan. When Temari opened it she saw why it was heavier. Even though her fan was called an, iron battle fan, it was only iron at the end points the fan. The inside was chakra conducting wood. This one was completely made of iron with chakra conducting metal! This was a war fan. The chakra conducting metal for weapons was very expensive. Most weapons that used the metal were small. The largest was supposed to be a tanto that was made with the metal. Only once before had she seen a fan that was made completely out of iron and it had been half the size of her own. This one was about seven inches longer than her fan.

"Are the other fans, made out of iron as well?" Temari asked him.

"Yes. Is that alright with you? I'm not a fan user and I remembered that you used a fan in your fights, so I thought that these would make an appropriate gift to give you." Naruto replied.

Temari's eyes widened, none of the wind user's in Suna had weapons of such a high caliber and here she was having just been given seven war fans! "I accept the gift most generously." She replied as she resealed them. Temari then looked at Naruto and asked, "If I may ask, how did you come across such rare weapons?"

"They are part of the Uzumaki family vault." Naruto replied.

This statement had the jounins raising their eyebrows as well as Tsunade.

The right Naruto clone stepped forward and presented Kankuro with the box in his box. The puppet-nin accepted the box with a thanks. Kankuro opened the box to see two large vials and a smaller one between them. "What are these?" Kankuro asked Naruto.

"I read that puppet users often use poisons in there weapons, so I was able to get some poisons for you. Ironically, each of those comes from Orochimaru's snake summons. The one in the middle was taken from Manda the summoning boss for the snakes." Naruto replied.

Kankuro raised his eyebrows at that. With these poisons he'd be able to make his puppets much more deadly. The poison from Manda was indeed a welcomed gift, as no one had ever been able to have the chance to use the snake boss summon's poison before. This would be quite an advantage for him in a fight.

"Also, I read that puppet users often use dead bodies for there puppets. Is this true?" Naruto asked Kankuro.

"Yes, that does happen. Why?" Kankuro replied.

"I was able to come across an interesting body and was wondering if you would be able to use it. Originally, I was going to study it, but this just seemed better. It's an animal, if that is acceptable." Naruto explained.

Kankuro nodded his head. Animals weren't often used, but one could turn and animals body into a puppet. Most puppet-nins simply made their own puppets to use in a fight.

Naruto unhooked one of the scrolls on his right. He placed it on the ground and unrolled it. He then summoned chakra into his hand and swipped his hand over the seal. The resulting poof was extremely loud and the smoke was immense.

As the smoke cleared, everyone looked to see that the animal was a very large snake. The snake was one of Orochimaru's snake summons, that had drowned in the swamp that Jiraiya had made nearly two weeks ago. The snake was being held up by a large pole with a fork at the top supporting the head.

Kankuro stared in awe at the animal. '_That thing is freaking huge._' He thought to himself.

"So, can you use it?" Naruto asked him.

"It'll do." The puppet-nin replied.

Naruto resealed the dead summon and handed the scroll to Kankuro, who accepted it with a thanks.

It was now the left clone's turn to present Gaara with the box in its hands. Everyone waited with baited breath; how would Gaara react to the shinobi that had beaten him?

Gaara accepted the box without a word. Silently, he opened the lead and stared at the contents in the box. With a slightly puzzled expression on his face, Gaara picked up the object in the box and lifted it up. "What is this?" Gaara asked holding a whitish looking rock.

"These are uncut diamonds, that I had lying around." Naruto replied, informing Gaara of what the rock in his hand was. As well as, the 99 others still in the box.

All of the shinobi around them widened their eyes at this statement. "How do you just have diamonds, lying around?" Shizune asked aloud. Several of the others where wanting to know as well.

"I have them because they're kept in the Uzumaki Vault." Naruto replied to her.

"I didn't ask before, but just what is this Uzumaki Vault?" Tsunade asked.

"The Uzumaki Vault is where everything valuable, materialistically wise, is stored by the Uzumaki family for the Uzumaki family." Naruto told her. Which got Temari to wondering; just what was stored in this vault.

"What are the contents of this _vault_?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm not really sure. I've spent sometime looking through it, but there is still a lot to sort through." Naruto replied.

"I want to see this vault when you have a chance to show it to me." Tsunade told the blond haired boy.

"Certainly," Naruto then closed his eyes and began to concentrate for a moment.

There was a sudden flash of light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, oh what a sight did they see. Gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, all around them were precious metals, rare stones, jewelry, and so much more.

"W-what is all of this?" Temari asked, ankle deep in emeralds.

"Baa-chan said she wanted to see what I had in the vault. Well, this is it." Naruto told her.

"How did you get all of this?" Tsunade asked with great wonder. There had to be ten times the amount her dept was, here in theses metals, stones, and jewelry.

"It was inherited, so to speak." Naruto told her.

The jounin looked on in awe; there was so much of the gems and jewelry that it was unfathomable. Sakura's eyes had gone nearly as wide as dinner plates. Sasuke stared on with annoyance written on his face.

Temari bent down and picked up an emerald by her ankle. The green gem was about the size smoke bomb and was probably worth enough money to pay for a couple of A-rank missions and still have a bit left over. Now, Temari had never been what one would call a 'girly girly', she was happy with her kunoichi lifestyle. However, even a small part of her had to admit; that she was feeling slightly giddy being surrounded by all this treasure.

Naruto closed his eyes and blinked all of the treasure away, sending it all back to the pocket storage dimension he had started to call the, Uzumaki family vault.

Gaara looked at Naruto and said, "I do not understand this gift," revering to the box in his hands.

"Diamonds are the hardest of the minerals. So, when you grind them into dust and add them with your sand, your defense will be even stronger." Naruto explained.

"I see. Thank you, Uzumaki-san." Gaara replied as he placed the diamond back into the box.

Everyone, except the Suna siblings and Tsunade, were looking wide-eyed at what Naruto had done. Wither it was intentional or not, Naruto had just given the Suna siblings the tools to become even stronger then they currently were.

Gaara approached Naruto and said, "Uzumaki-san last time I was here, you said something that has stuck with me and I want to know more about it."

"Please, just call me Naruto, Gaara. Do you want to know more about what I said after are fight?" Naruto asked.

"No, that's not it Naruto-san." Gaara answered. The young red-haired boy stared at Naruto for a moment before asking, "What does '_gay_' mean? During your fight with the dog-shinobi, you said that the Uchiha was gay and that he had been staring at me."

Everyone in the vicinity heard Gaara's question and face faulted at his question. The boy was known for slaughtering people, at least before his change, and the biggest thing on his mind was what the word gay meant?

"Oh, that's no problem." Naruto replied. He then leaned over and whispered into Gaara's ear.

When Naruto finished his explanation, Gaara looked at Sasuke then turned his gaze back to Naruto and asked, "Can I kill him?"

This caused everyone to tense, at hearing Gaara's words.

"Sadly no, you may not Gaara." Naruto replied. "He's my friend, even if he is a uke-teme." Naruto explained.

The moment was quickly ruined by a voice behind Naruto yelling, "How many times do I have to tell you dobe? I'm not fucking gay."

Naruto turned around and shouted back at Sasuke saying, "Oh yeah? Well, for a guy who wants to revive his clan you sure are doing a crappy job of it by ignoring the girls that have an interest in you. It would be nice to see you talk to a girl when it doesn't have anything to do with shinobi duties or we're at a restaurant and our server happens to be female. That's all I'm saying."

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke shot back.

"How about you make me, teme." Naruto retorted.

Tsunade sighed to herself. '_So much for this going without an incident occurring._' The busty Hokage thought to herself. She dug around in her robes until she discovered that she did have something small in them. Turned out it was an eraser. She threw it at Sasuke's forehead, while bobbing Naruto on the head. "Will the two of you shut up?" She yelled.

Temari and Kankuro took a step back at the display of the woman's temper.

Naruto stood up from the hit and shot Tsunade a small glare. He then turned back to Temari and her brothers. Gaara stared at Naruto with his emotionless eyes for a moment before speaking. "Naruto, will you protect my sister as you protect your precious people?" the Suna jinchuuriki asked the Konoha jinchuuriki.

Naruto was slightly taken aback by Gaara's question. He blinked his eyes in surprise and said, "Yes, I promise and I never break a promise."

"Good. Then I have no reason to kill you." Gaara replied.

"Why would you kill me?" Naruto asked him.

"My sister is important to me. If it was anyone but you she was marring, I would be very opposed to this marriage." Gaara explained.

"Okayyy." Naruto said, nodding his head slightly at what Gaara had said.

"Have any of you had lunch yet?" Tsunade asked, addressing the Suna shinobi. When they answered no, Tsunade said, "Alright, let's get something to eat then, before Naruto shows Temari to her new house. I found this great place the other day called, Carmela. It's by the Fox Fang weapons shop."

Naruto was surprised when he heard the name of the restaurant Tsunade mentioned; because he owned that restaurant. He turned back to the Sand siblings and said, "Do you want to carry the boxes with you or do you want me to store them?"

The three siblings thought about it for a moment before deciding to have Naruto put away the gifts that he gave them.

After blinking the gifts to the new house, Naruto turned to Temari and asked, "May I be allowed to hold your hand?"

Temari had to admit to herself, she was slightly impressed. At least, he wasn't automatically assuming that he could have his way around her. Because of this, she allowed Naruto to hold her hand as everyone walked to the restaurant.

As they walked to Carmela, Naruto decided to get to know his bride better. "So, what exactly do you do?" Naruto asked her.

"I'm a long range, ninjutsu fighter. I fight by strategically outsmarting my opponent and using my wind element chakra." Temari answered.

"Wind element chakra? What's that?" Naruto questioned aloud. The book that he had read about on chakra, only covered the discovery of chakra, its change in history, and uses for it. It never talked about elements being part of the chakra.

"Wind element chakra, is one of the five basic elements along with earth, fire, water, and lightning. Every shinobi has at least one. Sometimes they have two, but rarely do they ever have three." Tsunade answered. She then looked at Naruto and asked, "How is it, that you don't know what element chakra is? You should already be learning about it. The other genins are, from what I've heard."

This caught both Naruto and Sakura's attention. The two young members of Team 7 looked at the jounin senseis of their classmates, who nodded their heads. Then two then turned to Kakashi with a rather deadly glare in their eyes.

"Kakashi-sensei…WHY HAVEN'T YOU TAUGHT ELEMENTAL CHAKRA TO US?" Sakura yelled at the silver-haired jounin.

"Um… I forgot?" Kakashi replied, hoping they bought it.

"Hey Sasuke, why aren't you mad?" Naruto asked the avenger, seeing that he wasn't reacting. "Learning your element could help you get stronger."

"Kakashi-sensei already showed me my element. My affinity is with lightning, with a secondary for fire." Sasuke replied to Naruto.

Kakashi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as he felt two powerful killing intents directed towards him. Slowly, he looked over to see both Sakura and Naruto glaring heavily at him. Sakura had fire in her eyes, where as Naruto's eyes had an over whelming sense of death.

"You forgot; my ass." Sakura muttered out.

"Um…, would you like to learn what your element affinity is?" Kakashi asked them, while everyone else looked on with shock and interest.

Tsunade was surprised that genin weren't required to know their element affinity before graduating. When she was graduating from the academy it was one of the primary things to know before passing.

Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai were shocked that _the great Kakashi_ hadn't taught his students something so basic. Their own students had known their elements before going into the chunin exam.

"What was your first clue?" Naruto replied to his sensei's question.

Rather than say anything, Kakashi just handed both Sakura and Naruto a small 3x3 inch square slip of paper. "Focus your chakra into the paper. How the paper reacts will reveal your element. If the paper crinkles, you will have lightning. If it gets wet, then you've got water. If it becomes burnt at the ends, then you've got fire. It will split in have for wind and turn to dust for earth." Kakashi said, naming what elements affected the paper in which way.

Sakura took the piece of paper in her hand and began to focus her chakra into the paper. She watched as the paper began to crumble away into dust, revealing her earth affinity. '_Never would have pictured myself as a kunoichi with an earth affinity._' She thought to herself as she looked over to see what Naruto's element would be.

Naruto held the paper in his hand and closed his eyes, focusing his chakra into the paper. He felt something happen and the paper got wet. He opened his eyes to see that the paper had been cut cleanly in half, but it was soaking wet. '_What the heck?_' Naruto thought to himself, not knowing what to make of it.

"That's interesting," commented Tsunade, who had watched what happened along with everyone else. "It seems you have an affinity for wind with a rather high second affinity for water." She continued. '_Well, this is an odd turn of things. The brat has to two rarest element affinities in Konoha._' Tsunade thought to herself.

'_Must be from Haku's bloodline._' Naruto thought to himself. '_Wind is most likely my own affinity since it appeared first. Now, the questions are is water my own second affinity or do I have third affinity? And, were can I learn wind and water based jutsus? It's no wonder I haven't been able to use any ice based jutsus yet,_' he reasoned.

"With your affinity for wind you will be able to learn how to use wind enhanced chakra from Temari." Tsunade stated.

Naruto quickly stole a glace at Temari's face and saw that her eyebrows had arched ever so slightly in surprise.

The group of shinobi continued walking to the restaurant in relative silence. Within a few minutes they had arrived at the entrance of Carmela and were walking in.

"Welcome to Carmela. How many- Oh Naruto-sama! We didn't know you were coming in today." The hostess said as she saw Naruto entering the restaurant. "Are you here for the books?"

"Afternoon Chloe," Naruto replied to the hostess. Chloe was a young girl at 18; with an average height and a slim build. She had purple hair and green eyes. "I wasn't planning on coming in today, but Baa-chan wanted us to have lunch here. However, go ahead and get me the books anyway, alright?"

"Of course, Naruto-sama."

"Good. Now, I need a table for fifteen."

As Chloe went to look for a large enough table, several of the Konoha shinobi were wondering why Naruto was being titled with '_–sama_'.

Chloe returned a moment later and said, "I'm sorry Naruto-sama, but we only have a table for thirteen and a booth for two free."

Before Naruto could say anything, Tsunade replied, saying, "That's okay. We'll take the table and Naruto and Temari can take the booth."

"The booth is on the other side of the restaurant." Chloe replied meekly to the Hokage.

This had gotten Tsunade's attention. She had wanted the two close by to observe how they interacted. Unfortunately, she wouldn't get her chance as Naruto spoke up saying, "Not a problem. Go ahead and show them to the table."

* * *

The others followed Chloe a she led them into the back of dining area of the restaurant. The table was pushed up against the wall; allowing six to sit on each side and one on the end. Tsunade sat on the end with Shizune on her right, with Ton-ton sitting between them on the table. After Shizune, came Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, Asuma, and ended with Kurenai sitting next to the wall.

Baki sat on Tsunade's left. After him, was Gaara, Kankuro, Then the two Suna jounin escorts, and ended with Gai sitting next to the wall.

After taking everyone's drink order, Chloe was about to leave, but Tsunade stopped her. "Why do you address Naruto as '_-sama_'?" The Fifth asked her.

"Because, he owns the restaurant." Chloe explained as though it was the most obvious thing in Konoha.

* * *

After being escorted by Chloe to a small, but comfortable booth for two, close to the front of the restaurant, Naruto and Temari sat across from each other and looked everywhere but at each other. Once the drinks arrived, Naruto decided that the silence between them need to be broken.

"So, how are you feeling?" Naruto asked, as she was the one that was having to leave her home.

"Not good." Temari replied honestly. "I'm being removed from my home and being sent to the village that was attacked and forced into a political marriage to someone I barely know. No offence."

"None taken."

"I will not be apart of my brother's lives anymore and just when we were starting to repair our relationship with each other. Also, I may have lost my best friend, due to marrying you."

"Oh? Did he want to marry you?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Actually, it's _her_. She was wanting a shot at having a relationship with you." Temari said, correcting him.

Naruto was slightly surprised by this and asked, "Her name wouldn't happen to be, Karui, would it?"

"You remember her from the hot springs?" Temari asked, slightly impressed that he would remember someone that he had only met for roughly 5 minutes, a little over a month ago.

"Well, there's that and this letter she sent me." Naruto explained, and he dug into his pockets. As he handed the letter to Temari, Naruto said, "I received this, just the other day."

Temari took the letter and started reading it. When she finished, Temari had a small blush on her face. "Karui is an out spoken person, but she means well. She's a good friend; who I'm very close to." Temari said, recalling just how close she and Karui were.

**Flashback no Jutsu**

_**2 Days before the Chunin Exam Finals**_

_**(A/N: Lemon warning)**_

_Temari and Karui sat silently in the hot springs. The blond haired shinobi known as Naruto had just left and quickly chasing after him where the two fan girls known as Ino and Sakura._

"_Too bad Naruto had to leave." Karui said with a sigh. As she leaned forward, her towel opened completely, having already been rumbled from when she jumped onto Naruto, and fell off into the water._

"_Why? Were you hoping to jump him again or maybe that he'd jump you?" Temari asked with a slight grin._

"_N-no!" Karui said, blushing as she did so._

_Temari leaned over towards her friend and wrapped her arm around Karui's back. Grabbing Karui's exposed breasts and rubbing her fingers over the girl's hardening nipples, Temari said, "Your mouth says no, but your tits say yes."_

"_Okay, fine." Karui replied, moaning a little at the attention her sensitive breasts were receiving. "He was here, we were here, and all of us were naked. It was the perfect chance for us to both have sex with him, before one of us got him in a relation ship."_

_Temari pulled Karui onto her lap, softly kissing the back of her neck and asked, "You wanted your first time to be outside?"_

"_Well, no. But, I wanted both of us to have a shot at him." Karui moaned out as her nipples were pinched. "I figured we could share him before getting him."_

"_How about this, first one to get a chance with him will share him with the other?" Temari asked, as she lowered her hand down into the water and rested it in between Karui's silky smooth legs._

"_Sounds good to me." Karui replied. She then let out a pleasurable moan as Temari pushed two over her fingers into Karui's submerged womanhood._

_Karui lifted up her left arm and gripped the back of Temari's head. Grabbing a fist full of sandy blond hair, as pleasure coursed through out her body. Carefully, Karui placed her feet on Temari's knees and pushed herself up._

"_You like that, you naughty girl?" Temari whispered huskily into Karui's ear, as she increased the speed and force of her thrusting._

"_Y-yes," Karui gasped out. She then gave a strained yell of pleasure as she reached her climax. With a shutter, her juices shot out; squirting far across the hot springs._

_With the afterglow of pleasure leaving, Karui's muscles relaxed; the lower half of her body submerged back into the water._

"_Nice squirt. Did you enjoy yourself?" Temari asked her friend._

_Karui turned her head back to face her friend and said, "Yeah." She then leaned forward lightly kissing the Suna kunoichi on the lips, before breaking it and saying, "Arigato, Temari-chan."_

"_Do itashimashite, Karui-chan." Temari replied, before she leaned forward and captured her friend's lips in her own once more._

_The two girls kissed for several more minutes, before getting up and leaving; as Karui needed to pack her belongings as she would be leaving the next morning._

_**(A/N: Lemon end)**_

**End Flashback no Jutsu**

"When I was told that I would be in this political marriage, I immediately wrote to Karui and told her about it. I also told her, that she should try and start a relationship with you. All the while, I was unaware that you were the one that the council had picked to be my husband. When they finally did tell me, I sent another letter to Karui telling her that I would be marrying you. I've yet to receive a reply from her, but I hope that she'll be sending me one soon." Temari explained to Naruto.

"So, what do you feel should be done?" Naruto asked.

"I think you should respond and see what develops. Neither one of us is being giving a choice, so I think a small bit of freedom should be allowed while it can for you. Especially, if someone's showing interest in you. No one's ever shown interest in me, so I don't have anyone wanting to date me." Temari explained.

"I see." Naruto replied. He took a quick sip of his water before saying, "Really? No one's shown an interest in you that way? You're an exceptionally beautiful woman, so I thought someone would be dating you."

Temari blushed slightly, at Naruto's comment. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Naruto replied. He then continued saying, "Though, I doubt you'll find much love in Konoha at the moment."

"I'm well aware of that." Temari replied testily. She wasn't stupid enough to think that she'd be welcomed with open arms into Konoha.

"I don't think you are." Naruto told her. "I can't tell you the reasons yet, but the people of Konoha will hate you simply because you're going to be connected to me. Several of the shops won't allow you into their stores. And the ones that do will over charge you. Food venders will refuse to sell anything, but the stuff that's expired. The worst will be the crowds of people. If enough of them are drunk and together, they will attack you."

Temari grimaced at what Naruto was telling her. She knew things were going to be bad, but not this bad.

"However, I was able to get some things changed." Naruto said. "As you may or may not be aware, I'm able to gain multiple bloodlines; how I do this will be explained later. I plan to put two of them into you." Naruto explained.

"Why and which ones?" Temari asked, curious at the thought of having two bloodlines.

"The first one is Omoide no Miru. I picked this one, because a new law has recently gone into effect here in Konoha. It basically states that should anyone assault us, weather it's verbal or physical, we are allowed to handle the situation anyway we see fit; which includes permanent solutions. The second one is Utsusu. This is so that you'll be able to access the Uzumaki Vault. It would unwise for us to put our money in a bank, because they would most likely lose our money. Plus, Utsusu is a great help in a fight." Naruto told her.

"So, how do you plan to make it so that I'll have these bloodlines?" Temari asked.

"I've found away to separate the strands of D.N.A. that hold the bloodline and transfer then to others. The downside is that its extremely painful."

"Interesting," Temari said, as the waiter walked over to them. After giving their orders, she looked back at Naruto and asked, "Is this transferring of bloodlines what you were talking about when you said, that you do questionable work?"

"Well this is part of it. As for the real questionable work, that will have to wait for me to tell you; since, I don't have permission at the moment." Naruto answered.

This had Temari mentally raising her eyebrows. "So, any idea where we're going after lunch?" She asked him.

"Well, I thought after lunch we could go by the house. Tsunade will probably want you to stop by her office sometime today for your papers. Then, we'll have to go to the administration's office."

Temari nodded her head at what Naruto was saying, before deciding to chance the subject by asking, "You know what I can do. So, what can you do?"

"I'm a close to mid-range fighter. I fight by overwhelming my opponents with kage bunshin and then striking them down. I also have several weapons that I use. Among them are Kubikiri Hocho, Raijin no Ken, and The Immortals. Utsusu is also helpful in a fight for calling weapons to myself, however the more intense the fight or larger the object the harder it is to blink it where I want it to go. Now that I know what my chakra element affinity is, I'll soon start training in Futon and Suiton techniques." Naruto explained.

"Impressive," Temari remarked upon hearing about his fighting skill. "I can't help you with water chakra, but if you want I can help train you in wind chakra."

"Thank you." Naruto replied.

Soon their meals arrived and the two ate in respectable silence. The two young genin enjoyed their meals while listening to the simple sounds of everyday life going on around them.

Once they were finished eating Naruto turned to her and asked, "Would you like to go and drop your stuff off at the house?"

"Yes, I would like that very much," replied Temari. "But, shouldn't we wait for the others?"

"There really is no need." Naruto told her as he stood up.

The two genin made their was out of the restaurant, as Naruto sent a clone over to Tsunade's table to inform her that they had left the restaurant and would meet her in her office later.

Naruto and Temari walked in silence, a little ways away from the restaurant, as they came towards the passageway of a large stone wall.

"Well, here's the front gate of the house," spoke up Naruto.

"So, this is ours?" Temari asked him.

"Yeah, as you can see there's no clan symbol, yet. Once we talk about the design of our clan, I'll put one up. I built the wall up, because I'm not really sure how people would react. There's the whole thing about you being from Suna that people aren't going to like. Plus, there's the foxes on the property, too." Naruto told her as they walked through the passageway.

"Foxes? Why would foxes be a problem?"

"After the Kyuubi attack, thirteen years ago, people here really don't like foxes anymore. But, I think they're alright," answered Naruto.

"If we've got foxes on the property, just how much land do we have?" Temari asked, as foxes were known to enjoy spacious areas.

"We have nine acres of land."

"Why do we have so much land?" Temari asked stumped by the amount of land they own.

"It's actually not that much. The Uchiha clan has only one member and they have an entire district. The Nara clan is also a small clan, but they've got nearly twenty acres of land. Besides, I thought we could use the privacy. It'll take the citizens of Konoha a while to accept you, so I thought it would be nice if our home was away from all of the hate."

Temari could see Naruto's point about having their home out of sight for a while; still she had no idea that the clans of Konoha owned so much land.

"Come on," spoke up Naruto. "It'll be faster if we run through the trees."

The young shinobi ran quickly through the bending and twisting branches of the trees around them. After a minute of running, Naruto jumped out of the trees with Temari hot on his heels. She landed on the ground and looked over at Naruto, to see he had stopped.

"This is it," he said as he nodded his head forward. "Welcome to the Uzumaki clan house."

Temari turned her gaze to where Naruto was looking and gasped in shock. '_This isn't a house. It's a fucking mansion,_' the blond female thought to herself. She turned her gaze back to Naruto; arching an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Yeahhh, I kind of went overboard in building the house," Naruto remarked; starching the back of his head.

"You think?"

The two slowly walked into the house, so that Temari could explore her new house.

* * *

After hearing that Naruto and their sister had left, Gaara and Kankuro had decided to explore around the city. Baki and the other Suna jounin had gone ahead and gotten a few rooms at a nearby hotel for the next couple of days. The young Suna genin brothers had decided to split up, as Kankuro wanted to look for some weapons and types of woods for his puppets; while Gaara, just wanted to wonder around the village, without stopping at several shops.

Currently, the youngest Suna sibling found himself wondering around Konoha's hospital district. Gaara had started wondering around the village when Kankuro had left to go shopping; and the young redhead showed no signs of stopping. While Gaara was walking, he was also thinking about what Naruto had said to him and thinking back on his life. True, Gaara had felt alive when he killed those people, but it was such a fleeting feeling; it was small and quick. Was it even worth it, to call it a feeling? The more Gaara thought on it, the more he realized that it wasn't truly an existence. So now, his question to himself was this; would he try Naruto's way of existence?

Gaara was pulled from his thoughts as he noticed someone walking down the street. Normally, Gaara would never take notice of a person doing such a simple thing as walking, but this person was different as he was walking with a crutch. This person was wearing a green spandex suit with an orange leg warmer on their good leg. Gaara knew who this person was; his name was Rock Lee and Gaara had nearly killed him.

Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Lee looked up from the spot that he had been staring at and was greeted with the sight of seeing the Suna nin, who had for all practical reasons ended his shinobi career, walking towards him. The young taijutsu user would be lying to his self, if he tried to tell himself he wasn't afraid. The cold hard truth was; Rock Lee was scared. Sure, he knew about the coming peace treaty with Naruto and Temari's wedding. But, whoever said Gaara was going to follow it?

He took note as the younger genin stopped a few feet from him, but not within arm's reach. For what seemed like an eternity they both just stared at each other. Finally, Gaara broke the silence by doing something that was completely unexpected of him.

Gaara bowed deeply at the waist and said, in his gravelly voice, "I am sorry for what I have done to you, Rock Lee of Konoha."

Of all the actions that could have been taken, of all the words that could have been spoken; Lee would have never guessed that Gaara would have done what he just did. A small smile formed on Lee's face; as he remembered Gai-sensei telling him that one of the greatest showings of the Flames of Youth, was when a shinobi could admit they had done something wrong to another and apologize for it.

"You are forgiven, Gaara of Suna," Lee replied.

Gaara raised his head and looked at the boy he had nearly killed and wondered why. Why was he forgiving him? Hadn't he ruined his life? "Why are you forgiving me?" Gaara asked Lee.

"Gai-sensei once said that as shinobi it is very easy for us to ruin and destroy. However, it is difficult for us to admit when we have done something wrong and ask for forgiveness of it," Lee explained to the confused Suna genin.

With everything that had happened in his life and everything that he had done, Gaara was surprised that someone was willing to forgive him for what he had done to them.

"You are one of the strongest fighters that I have ever fought against and I look forward to fighting you again," Lee commented.

"How?"

"Tsunade-sama has been looking into my condition and is working on a treatment to return me to active duty," Lee explained. Of course, he left out the fact that she hadn't finished her research yet.

"That sounds nice," Gaara said to Lee. Maybe things were starting to look up for him.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village Kankuro was finishing up his shopping.

'_Okay, I've been able to get some new parts and weapons for my puppets. Now, let's see about getting some weapons for me. I was caught to easily by that Shino kid,_' Kankuro thought to himself.

'_This store looks like a good one._' Thought Kankuro as he looked at a simple two story weapons shop, that's sign read '_Taku Family Weapons_'. As he made to open the door, Kankuro stopped as he heard the sounds of grunts from an intense workout coming from behind the building.

Walking around the building, Kankuro saw a familiar looking girl with dark brown hair in buns in the midst of throwing weapons at different targets.

'_That's the girl who lost to Temari,_' Kankuro suddenly recalled. '_She's pretty good. Shame she had to go up against nii-san. No one beats her but Gaara._'

With a yell, Ten-ten threw the last of her senbon needles at the paper targets on the wooden posts. '_I still don't get it. How could I have lost to that… that bitch?_' Ten-ten asked herself.

The young kunoichi of Team Gai was brought out of her thinking as she heard the sound of clapping coming behind her. Ten-ten spun around to see a guy roughly her age, wearing a black jumpsuit leaning against the back of her family's weapon shop.

"Who are you?" She question.

"I'm Kankuro," replied the guy. "You may know me better as the younger brother of the girl who beat you in the Chunin Exams."

Ten-ten's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here in Konoha then?" She questioned him.

"My sister was the one they picked to be the bride for this political marriage," replied Kankuro.

Upon hearing that Temari would be staying in the village, Ten-ten's heart stopped. 'She's here. Right here in this village. I have to know how to beat her,' the weapons kunoichi thought to herself.

Noticing the look on the girl's face, Kankuro spoke saying, "I know what you're planning and it won't work."

"What? What am I planning?" Ten-ten asked as she snapped out of her thinking.

"Your planning to figure out what makes my sister a better fighter than you. You're then going to take advantage of any weaknesses she has and challenge her to a fight. But, it won't work. You're a throwing weapons specialist and nee-san is a wind chakra user. No matter what you throw, she'll just blow it away."

"And I suppose you could do better?" Ten-ten questioned, in a slightly challenging tone.

"I might be able to. However, I don't have my puppets with me," replied Kankuro. (**A/N: He left them at the hotel.**)

"Sound's to me like someone's scared."

"Alright then, when they announce the date for Temari-nee-san's wedding I'll be coming to attend. We can have a spar then."

"Fine. You're on."

Nodding his head, Kankuro turned and walked away. It wasn't until he was halfway back to the hotel that he realized that he didn't do the shopping he wanted to do at the weapons store.

* * *

"This is our house?" Temari asked her fiancé once more.

"Yes, this little abode is all ours," Naruto replied.

"_Little abode_? Naruto this place is bigger than the Kazekage Mansion in Suna," proclaimed Temari.

"Oh, it is? Well, when I started building I just couldn't seem to stop." Naruto commented. "Come on, I'll now show you to your room."

Naruto lead Temari though the mansion up to the third floor where their rooms were. "Here's your room Temari. Mine is down the hall." Said Naruto as he gestured to each room.

"Thank you. I'd like to take a rest a moment before we go to see the Hokage."

"Sure. I'll be in my room if you need me," replied Naruto as he walked down the hall to his room.

Upon entering his room, Naruto closed his door and sat on his bed. Closing his eyes in concentration, he began to focus chakra to his eyes. '_Byakugan!_' Naruto mentally shouted.

Using his now 360 degree vision, Naruto did his best to concentrate on the row of trees planted behind the mansion. '_Okay, so far so good…_' Naruto began to think to himself. A few seconds later, Naruto began to feel a starting of a major headache building. His vision began to o fuzzy.

'_Damn it. This isn't good. I still can't get past a minute with out this bloodline starting to cause pain,_" Naruto cried mentally as the pain built more and more.

Soon enough he was on his knees, from the pain. "K-kai!" Naruto said, releasing the Byakugan. Naruto stayed on his ands and knees as the room slowly began to stop spinning. He could feel a warm substance running down his cheeks. Already knowing that it was his blood, Naruto began to focus on closing the cuts. Breathing heavily for a moment, Naruto's stomach then clenched as he threw up; spilling his lunch on the carpet.

'I've got to talk with Hinata or Neji soon. This bloodline is going to be the death of me,' Naruto thought wearily as he made his way to the bathroom to clean up. No need to let Temari know about this just yet.

**

* * *

Next chapter: Getting to know you; getting to know me**

**Well, there's the end to chapter nine of **_**What If? Naruto**_**. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and I apologize for the wait. After finishing chapter eight, I had decided to take a bit of a break as there was Christmas, New Year's, my birthday, and the Super Bowl to look forward to. But a couple of days after the Super Bowl, I got really sick and wound up with a bad case of the flu. After that, I began working on this chapter once again. Now, about two weeks back into working on it, my step-dad got really sick and had to be admitted to the hospital. My step-dad is really old and we have his previous medical history saved on our computer. Well, in order to take it to the hospital, my mom grabbed the flash drive that was on our computer table (The one I left there the night before; that had this chapter on it.) and wiped everything off of it. So, I had to rewrite this entire story. Not to long after that, I got a job. (Yea, money is finally coming back to me.) And to top it all off, my Beta reader has left. Everyone, say good-bye to SamJaz and wish him a safe trip. So, I'll be needed a new Beta reader.**

**Now, the updates will be a little slow, but I will be continuing this story. Please be patience, I know several of you love this story and I'm glad you love it, so I'm not going to abandon it.**

**Last but not least, please leave me lots of reviews.**


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